I keep trying to prove
to myself and to you
that I am something of value
to hold onto

But this outpouring of words
won’t do me justice

And won’t convince you
that I am worth keeping

So simple a story
And so magnificent

how your existence
And my being
Lay together
As evening dim
Sweeps across us

Sometimes
The most simple things
Are the most aweing
And you, Ahmed
Make me wonder

Stepping out on the ledge
that held him with a weak and trembling grip,
his eyes were filled
with the future

Lucid lights painting ribbons through the sky,
tracing the frantic motion
of masses lost,
in a rush to nowhere

Entranced by the spectacle,
eyes yellow aglow,
he ceased to notice
the grounds growing tremor

He plucked the mistakes from his heart
Uprooting the dry bulbs and coiled stems
With an empty satisfaction that consumed him

Pruning himself for perfection
And deep in the earth he buried his sins

Day after day
He maintained his routine
Summer dawned,
Autumn fell,
Winter withered

And alas came spring
When all is made new

A tender green bud
Still wet with life
Burst through the earth
With a courage
Soft enough
To make itself seen

I went for a swim
in a sea of emotions
the water enticed me
with its glistening beckon

but the water was thick
and down like a stone
I sank in the sea

growing more and more quiet
and still
and dark

as I drifted
deeper and deeper
into the sea.

I used to be afraid.
Of what? I wonder.

Now that everything is gone.

I miss that man in the garden
With coarse dark hair and a smile
With thick skin
And callused hands
And a tender toughness
That appeals to a child

I miss that man at the table
Behind the morning paper
I miss his simple routines
And his humble ways

And I recognize in him
The strength of simplicity
The great honor and privilege
To live amongst
Such perfect repetition of pattern
What meaning it creates in time

I miss that man in the living room
Relaxed on the sofa at night

Oh the simplicity
It wrings at my heart
That being
Oh that being

Day in and day out
Over and over again
Oh what it means to be alive