A tryst with the night

Stealing a moment of respite,
I keep my date, pressing work despite.

Staring up at the night sky,

Thoughts meander -

Resting on days gone by,

Shattered dreams dotting the way,
Aspirations that couldn't see the day's light,
Consigned to the perpetual darkness of the night,
Stripped of the very desire to take flight,
The moon shrouded by the clouds,
Perpetuates the melancholy mood,
And I ruminate on past deeds,
Unfulfilled promises and needs,

Lost in thought, I glance up to see,
A shooting star making its way hastily,
Streaking the skies with an ephemeral glow,
Holding out promises of a better tomorrow,
I take it as a divine sign,
And focus on memories sanguine,
The moon suddenly peeks out,
Revealing to darkness, his clout,
Bathing my surroundings with pure light,
And instilling in me, a willingness to fight,
This was an enlightening tryst with the night.

(Un)Complicated (it)

With you, my friend, I stand,

Atop this hill, overlooking our home-land,

We've been here often before, 

When we were both young, and unsure,

We catch the gently blowing breeze,
And with it, the nostalgic memories.
Of climbing this boulder, and that tree,

Of times when our minds were pure, our spirits free.

The chilly, dry winter wind,

Would carry with it a whiff of sand,

And the suddenly induced bout of sneezes,

Would give way to laughter and teases,

And together we'd sit all day,

And gaze upon what before our eyes lay:

The river meandering through the valley,

Thin plumes of smoke wafting up that alley.

The fragrant autumn winds would drift by,

Brushing gently against our faces, as we'd lie,

Tossing and disheveling our hair,

And together, we'd sit right there,

Regaling each other with anectodes many,

The only stories that I've ever found genuinely funny.

And now we're here again once more,

That idyllic state of mind we should reattain for sure,

Far from the maddening crowd,

Supposedly free from vice and self-doubt,

***

We talk at length,

Insincerely praising each others accomplishments and strengths,

Silently begrudging each other, of a life better spent,

Each finding the other's pastures greener,

Each finding the other's life cleaner.

Alas, for most of us, that's the price we pay,

A toll for the child-hood to adult-hood highway.

But is it wisdom that we gain,

When we happily happiness feign?

When we don this social veneer,

And against our wishes steer?

Grumbling beneath our breath,

Plotting and scheming in distress?

All the while our once innocent minds complain,

Why not un-complicate and be a child again?

Dream big

Only as high as I reach can I grow,
only as far as I seek can I go,
only as deep as I look can I see,
only as much as I dream can I be.
- Karen Ravn

Dream big must we --
To scale summits high,
Grander must our dreams be,
Then will we obstructions scale,
And succeed in our endeavors without fail.