Weightless II
By John Herlihy

I woke up one morning with far too much weight,
Carrying excess baggage my one characteristic trait.
A lifetime of accumulated burdens fighting headwinds,
Pushing onward into the future on swirling tailwinds.

A vagabond lifestyle taught me the value of travelling light,
Bowing to life’s challenges with the rigor of a white knight.
Every time I moved, I ended up throwing everything away,
Crossing borders, new countries, like riding a winter sleigh.

I now measure my years by the many places I have lived,
Every country offering a thing unexpected it had to give.
To stride countries and continents feels like being a giant;
To tiptoe thru language and culture always feeling pliant.

As a child, I was an old soul waiting patiently to get big,
Terrorized by the world’s size and frantic to learn its jig.
I learned to preserve the heart of childhood’s innocence,
To balance any accumulation of the world’s wickedness.

To feel an exquisite weightlessness there for the taking;
To listen to the sound of silence never worth breaking.
To take each step as it comes with a feeling of being bold;
To accept the inevitability of ultimately growing very old.

Oh to be weightless, defying gravity like the birds in the sky;
Oh to be a feather, falling gently down from the blue on high.
The runner spreads the wings on his tentative, fleeting steps,
Lifting him off the ground in pursuit of an angel’s footsteps.

Whereas once I sought to buy a happy future with a dime,
I have come to witness acceleration in the passage of time.
When I now look into the mirror, I see an aging face,
Knowing a time will come when I vanish without a trace.

My soul, uplifted on a gentle breeze, airy and breathless;
Still wondering what comes next, curious and weightless.