End of page,
end of this

company–wee
notebook kept

my mind in hand,
let the world stay

open to me
day after day,

words to say,
things to be.

music fills the room
there is whiskey in the glass
shadows on the walls
memories haunt restless minds
this mind won’t rest till morning

The world is never
any more than just this—
I knew it all along,
but an aching heart
is still hard to bear.

translated by Ian Hideo Levy

often in life
we have those moments
when we wish
we were a year from now
to be through whatever
it is that’s driving us
instead of us driving it
our need to be the subject
not the object
of our lives
if only
you think
I could be a year from now
slip through time
bypass the morass we’re in
be beyond the confusion
the pain the sorrow
be somewhere else
another mindset
different circumstances
if only
if only
I could
but one can’t
that’s the sad truth of it
we just have to trek on
through whatever badlands
we find ourselves in
heading for open sky
and the promise of hope
in happiness
waiting for us
just over the horizon

watching from afar
hearts will break in two in three
pieces fall away
there is no easy way out
and staying is harder still