WITH YOU… I have grown fond
of two living their lives as one
.
WITHOUT YOU… I resemble a
floundering vessel with torn sails
.
WITH YOU… I have soundness of
mind to bear up under the weight
of unenlightened popular opinion
.
WITHOUT YOU… my world is an
echo, dissonant, cold, and uninviting
.
WITH YOU… I find that nothing matters
but two willing hearts working together
to accomplish unique visions
.
WITHOUT YOU… the subtle leaven of pop
modernism weaves its way into the workings
of my restless imagination
.
WITH YOU… I understand the secrets of flying
through the forest without bumping into the trees
.
WITHOUT YOU… I become a clanging sound –
brash and one dimensional – slogging clumsily,
I write words lacking life
.
WITH YOU… I am whole; the wild seed that
becomes the field of uniquely vibrant flowers
.
WITHOUT YOU… I dither in the horse latitudes…
Resembling the aberrant colorless blossoms of a false
spring: I become a distorted reflection in a carnival mirror
.
WITH YOU… I walk the edge of the razor and never bleed.
I face the greatest challenges and remain strong.
I become the body of water between
incoming and outgoing rivers,
revitalized and pure,
reflecting all
that is good and
beautiful around it.
.
WITH YOU, I am completed and
become all that I am capable of being.
.
It is you, my love, who
confers to me all those singular
qualities that help define much of who I am.
Willingly imparting special gifts, you give me
the qualities that could never be birthed without you.
.
© richard lloyd cederberg
2025
.
In memory of Ed Dale (Michele’s father) who passed away last week at 91 years of age.
         A NEW RACE OF HuMANS