When I listen to my friend
Wrestle with the meaning of his life
Struggling to break through the illusion
And find fresh air for his soul
I know we are brothers
Because his words echo through me…

I am my father's tortured soul
Angry with my knowing
While loneliness laughs at me
Sometimes stuck, trying to accept
My blessings…

I am broken by my daughter
Because life cannot be stopped
And my wind kissed tears
I neither want to shed
Nor lose…

And the women I have loved
Have been everything and nothing
Mysterious perfections of my passion
And whether their milk is poison or not
I will drink it…

Underneath the sky I have waited for God
And found him closer than I realized
And forgot every suffering
When he looked at me

So I am the dirt
Beneath the feet of the world
And the water it bathes in
And the love that holds even the angry
To heart

I am holy
Abused, abandoned, neglected and hated
Never known
Except in severity
And even then, soon forgotten.

June 16, 2004