Love and sour grapes
Would make no finer wine…


All around me now are
Planes,
Trains,
Trucks,
Busses,
Boats,
and Cars.

They move off in a million distant directions,
And to as many different destinations.
Always able to transport,
To take us to any other place
Than where we are.

I have employed many of these vessels
In the past and in the present.
Often having as much faith in them
As I do in myself.

I tell people I love to travel.

The truth is
I am comfortable with the motion
And the notion that
It’s not the destination,
It’s the journey that I’m after.

Every trip a new beginning.
I’m forever going somewhere,
To watch another sunrise,
To gaze another sunset
And hope one day that I might get
Another chance,
Another love-laced opportunity.

Love is a trip that’s always best
In the beginning!
It is the most addictive stimulant
That I have ever known!

Two lives,
Connecting for the first time,
Moving in unison,
Tangling in passion,
Running together towards some
Mystical and amazing Great Unknown.

Every ounce of my being
Keen for the adventure,
The thrill,
The unlimited potential.
Each unique sojourn
Sending adrenalin waves
That resonate through blissful bones.

“Be still, my heart!”

Only yesterday, it seems,
I was pointing out the window
Of the car and saying,
“Look at all of this!
Doesn’t it take your breath away?”

But you and I never really saw
The same road,
Or the same trees, or houses.
I saw a field that was sun drenched
And filled with bight yellow mustard,
Buzzing with all manner of living things.
You saw the same field,
Thought it to be desolate, lifeless.

Oh, to climb into your head,
To take your mind’s steering wheel
Into my own hands,
And to guide you to my destinations!

If only you could see the world that I have seen!

But that scenery has faded now.
The momentum has slowed.
I am no longer able to trust my emotions.

We have come to a Y in the road.
And we have run out of things to say.

I sit here quietly,
The disillusioned driver.
With you,
The passive passenger,
Impatiently waiting
To step off of this
Abruptly curtailed carpet ride.

And though I know we are going nowhere.
I sit here waiting, forever gravitating,
Like some slow moving celestial object
Drawn in, nearer, nearer,
Feeling the G-force take me,
Shake me like a tambourine.
Pulling me in, closer and closer,
Long longing for the warmth,
Only to be consumed by yet another Careless super nova.

I’m not sure I have a choice. Do I?

After all,
Love is the heart of humanity.
It was love that I sought from you
Yesterday.
It is love that I must find elsewhere,
Tomorrow.
Is that so pathetic?

Am I foolish not to be the glutton,
Stuffing my face
With whatever is found upon the table?
Shouldn’t I wipe my mouth
Upon my sleeve,
Then set out looking for something new
To consume?
Why should I hold back
This glorious boasting?
Why can’t I revel in each conquest,
In each gratifying relationship,
In each belly full?

Many a lone animal insures his survival
In just such a way.
It is neither cold nor calculating.
It is simply how nature intended it to be.

Still, I struggle with this motivation.
I find it difficult to embrace this
Carnal point of view.
And upon reflection,
I suppose I would have to say
It’s our emotions that separate us
From the other animals in the zoo.

And yet there is affection there too.
Care and primal sharing,
If we were comparing,
Compassion knows no bounds.

But love is more than just another word,
Another pretty sound.

It is quantum entanglement!

Our emotions, like a great net
Forever being cast into the waters of life.
The delicate fabric may snare a great fish
Or snag an old tire.
Some days it may even come up empty,
Its very purpose questionable.

On those days
I must gather great resolve,
Give my all to cast that mesh back,
Back into the steely brine.

Should I use coffee and conversation,
Or chocolates kisses for bait this time?



EPILOUGE

From this smattering of notes
You must understand that my heart
Has many times been broken.

Yet, despite the fact
That there are no guarantees,
I continue to dive into this ocean.

I continue to believe,
Deep down inside,
That compassion will find its way.

And though there are times
When all seems lost,
I know,

A minute in love can mend so many things!




Michael S. True
1/2/2005 - last edit 1-20-2014