Dead of Night

Chasing shadows across stolen time
Trying to recall to where those years vanished.
Dragged into despair by the cost of
Caring too much, too long. Too short
This life. Oh, indeed, were we so young
(One for all and all for one),
Letting life linger with only the occasional
List gently carrying us along the way
(Just as sure as this river’s gonna run).

When did tomorrow happen? Taking the
Us from us, each to claim our own
Single stake across stranger ocean tides
Than ever we could have imagined.
Traversing new waves that, at times,
Washed over our craft, rising higher than
Our minds could fathom, thrown up
In the recurring perfect storms that
Made us feel small and alone, away;
Making us cry out to what we believe
To be an unlistening world, deaf to
The destruction happening around us all.
The words wrought with the reality that
Emotions are not individual entities,
Entreating the ghosts of some yesterday
to Please Lend Us An Ear! To give us
Sunshine and calm; respite found in
The eyes of too many hurricanes,
Each one as unlikely as the last.

But find now in this simple note
That such solitude is pure illusion,
And, as ever, even if I am having a
Little trouble (again with myself) that
Still I am here, through all those
Years and miles between us.
…’Til kingdom come.

-Dakin 12/9/11

Decisions

Haven’t I seen you before
Around here, where I try
To define the latest forest
In front of my eyes. What I
Want is to have before me
A guide, a relief map of
Sorts, that I can place
My hands upon telling my
Touch what twists and turns
Lie ahead on each unchosen
Path. The frozen fear of
Uncertainty is really just
A feigned fog of our own
Making; the songs of sirens
Leading us astray nothing
More than the grumbles of
Our unsettled stomachs made
By the meals we ate too close
To sleep, causing the crowded
Calamity of our own imagined
Dreams to turn into nightmares.
But what it all comes to
Is that it is only a single
Decision that need be made
Here and now, the rest to wait
Their turn, arriving in
Their own natural time
And place, even if that time
Is merely seconds away.
Realistically, the point
Remains that I can make
This one decision hovering
Before me now, taking that
Plunge into the unmeasured
Depths. It truly is not
That difficult, for I have
Walked on similar trails before,
Swum in similar pools prior.
After all, I have always
Suspected that the light
Serves only to enhance the
Illusion, that I actually can
See better in the dark.

-Dakin
4/13/11

Moment

It can happen in each and every
Moment, waking to wisdom,
Satiating our hunger for truth
And compassion. Changing our
Course of destructive pride to
A term of peace everlasting.
Never wanting more than we
Have been given, no longer
Coveting our neighbor’s trove, but
Satisfied now in this endless
Moment. For in the moment we
Find our eternal favorite, we
Are made whole, one together,
Forever in infinite moments.
That single moment that spawns
An endless series, living from minute
To minute, climbing the mountain of
Moments confronting us; soaking in
The sea of those moments comforting us.
In a moment, we really can change.

Life is a litter of moments, birthed of
Our first breaths, an unavoidable calamity
Thrust upon us by time ticking away,
Taking us to that one wonderful
Moment when the chaos clears
And you are there at my side
Marking with me all those new
Moments to come.

Dakin 11/9/10

Somewhere

Somewhere there, where
Sits a lost and lonely soul,
Something stirs and sends
A comfort sewn from the threads of
Unconditional acceptance and desire
Warming the worn and weathered
Heart. Hope does often spring
Eternal; entreats with us to engage,
To entertain our lost fanatsies
Understanding that they may,
Indeed, come true if we hold
Fast to the who of who we are.
Who am I? I am you, and
Billions more like us, striving
To survive, sustaining the dream.
My dream comes tomorrow and
Tomorrow does my dream come
To me. Today is a shadow to
Be swallowed by the setting
Sun which, when rising on
The morrow brings our rebirth.
Walk a mile in my shoes? No,
Rather walk a million miles more
With me by my side, a co-op
Journey through this life.

Dakin
9/17/10

Together

Static in anticipation
Like a spark suspended
In air awaiting the fuel
For which it was meant to
Flame. Electric like
A current cruising across
Power lines seeking purpose
To feed those everyday
Comforts on which we all
Rely. Undulating waves
Of light or sound relaying
A rush of information meant
To gorge our senses and
Satiate our longing to live.
Existing within and without,
A screen full of words, noises
And portraits, pictures of an
Ever changing environment
Lording over us its will to direct
Our longings by confusing
Our understandings, leading us
Astray from our selves, control
Ceded to the collective. A cost
Too burdensome to bear.
But hope resides in this humble
Heart that ponders themes too
Deep to plumb, taking me far
To wherever you are. In time.

-Dakin 3/12/10

Horizon

The burden weighing on
My stooped shoulders,
Manages me, measures
My responses to the global
Crises culled from Earth’s
Corners, canned in these
Processed clips my eyes
Scan each morning on
The screen from which I get
My daily dose of the world’s
Dearth and drama, reduced
To digestible portions so that
Once consumed we can all
Go quietly about the rest of
Our better business. The
Truth is, that while the
Suffering of billions of
Souls surrounds our own
Sheltered solitude, we stand
So often rooted in our own
Righteous indignation,
Incensed at the injustice,
Yet unable to respond in
Any more active of manner.
Realizing my limited scope
Of vision, bordering perhaps
On the xenophobic, though
Unintentionally, I crave
For my own part, a more solid
Meal, seeking to see through
The eyes of a host of others
Outside my usual universe
To acquire a more perfect
Understanding of this
Life and how to live it.

-Dakin 8/7/09

Memory

Numbers tumble in my
Thoughts, the pen scratches
Another mark across the
Box before me, resigning
The passage of another day
To its burrow, never to be
Visited again. Yet, that
Singular metaphor captured
On the glossy page among
Thirty plus others, a photo
Of stunning natural wonder
Capping them all, pinned
Eye-level on the wall, keeps
For me another layer of
Life images spent in the
Security of life’s company.
Together we conquered the
Alien beast that beset us,
Finishing our fight that we
Had before left for another
Day, which in turn, became
Yesterday. And the peace
That now envelops the
Burning ache that has become,
Of late, too familiar, directs
My focus to another number
Nestled not far from that
Of today. The box for
Which all these others
Stand row upon row,
Leading up in an unbroken
Line to the driven destiny
Of a date long looked for,
Bringing together the sum
Of these past many days,
Making you, for tomorrow
And for all time to come,
My living Memory.

-Dakin 8/14/09

Anticipation

Like the watched pot that
Finally boils, the bubbling of
Unrestrained joy rises inside
Making me flush with the heat of
This erupting geyser. A dream
That has no awakening to call
This cinematic spectacle to end,
As a lethargy of contentment
Buries my ability to focus on
Anything of substance but the
Promise that the dawning day
Of tomorrow will bring the hope
Of happiness foreshadowed, pure
Elation of justice finally delivered
Where it is long overdue, the gift
So long desired finally given over
To accepting hands. The sun shall
Rise and, before it has set, the
Wonder and wishing will have
Withdrawn into the new reality
Made of our own choosing.
The challenge to endure and
To persevere has been answered,
Successfully navigating the first leg
Of the long journey on which we
Embarked with wide-eyed innocence
When even that single task, now laid
To rest, seemed so very daunting.
So close now we are there, and the
Anticipation that has labored long
Upon us has been repaid in full
With the smiles of a new serenity.
The shadow disappears, the image
Is made whole in unclouded vision.

-Dakin 8/27/09

Celebrate

The sun shines down on
Another perfect day sending
Music to my ears, filling
My soul; a sweet serenade
That entrances my senses,
Eyes closed to a world of
Distraction allowing me to
Meditate on this melody
Leading me over this path;
Ribbons of signature sound
Beckoning to me to sing along.
My stumbling gait evolving
Into the assured quickstep of
Dance. A pivot here just to feel
The freedom of a corner turned,
Rising and falling with the
Crescendo of chorus echoing off
The life and land lined around
My exhibition, a showcase of
Unrehearsed steps, breaking into
A run, stopping for a moment
To kick and to jump freely,
Willing the pulsing beat that
Has so enraptured my focus
To renew its redolent rhythms,
A never ending promenade made
Now to draw us to the ultimate
Communion of celebration.
Come to me now, I beg,
May I have this dance?

-Dakin 9/4/09

Set Adrift

On this cold summer morning,
As I sit and stare at nothing,
Thinking of life’s lasting journey
Taking me to islands far
From the shores of peaceful comfort
To where the wild things now are,
Cruelly tempted by past visions
That time and space have warped;
Lost in memories forgotten,
A list of names without a face.
And as dark clouds roll above me,
As my stomach churns and knots,
I discharge my introspection
To release from me my fear.
For it is choice that I have chosen;
It is age behind my years,
An oasis in the desert
That slakes this thirst that harbors me.
So if now I do feel a hunger,
I can satisfy that need,
Though I’ll have to leave this haven
And strike out on my own way soon.
I am prepared to wander
Among the packs of ravenous wolves
Cloud by day, flame by night,
Lead me ever closer now
To that future reconciling
Of my present circumstances.
I am here and I am willing;
I am brave and I will walk
Among the wild things beside me
For it is this that makes me strong.

-Dakin 6/18/08

Barrier

Tear down this wall that
Separates us from our
Neighbors, keeping us silently
Entrenched in our own known
Universe, forever imprisoned
In a false xenophobic pride.
Can you not see that the two
Eyes that look over the horizon
Are of the same soul as your
Own? I do not claim
That there is no perversion
Of purity, that there is
No evil in the darkest
Desperations, but I recognize
It for an aberration that
Fuels the fire of wanton
Destruction and understand
That it belongs to a small
Segment of renegade reactionaries.
A much larger sea shelters
Our shared village earth,
Collecting us in the coral,
Currents seeking to drive us
Together in the tumult.
Do not confuse the simple
Misunderstanding for
Something more sinister. The hate
Will out of its own accord
And no rational relation, a
Mere six degrees away,
Will revel in such repression,
But will respond with revulsion.
It is time to return to respect.

-Dakin 10/2/09

Something Good

The stillness of the morning
Caresses me, lulls me into a
Trance, taking me away to
My own lost planet, left for
Millennia to mine my own
Shadow. Serenity, come to me.
There is no need to meditate,
Or contemplate, or engage
In any such self-reflection,
For it is enough to be there
In the here and the now,
Apart from the present
Calamity, sowing the seeds
Of simplicity. Wishing that
The snow globe of life
Would stop its shaking so
That we may settle in this
Scene sitting in the silence
Of a fresh start brought to
Us by the gold of the sun
Breaking over the far horizon.
Reveling in the renewal
Raining down through the
Justice and mercy of friends
And family, allowing us to
Truly be who we are, without
The burden of a rushed
Judgment or an unwarranted
Sentence. Free to be you
And me, each in our own
Newly discovered world,
Separated in this universe
But never alone on our
Lost planet waiting for
Our civilizations to find
The means of traveling
Among the stars to make
Even more new discoveries.
And in the anticipation, this
One thought reverberates,
I just know that something
Good is going to happen.

-Dakin 10/16/09