So Far

Still as the undisturbed water’s
Surface lilts the entrancing melody
That captures my inspiration as
Time stuffed in a too cramped bottle.
A rippling of words and ideas then
Quickly begins, like the tossed stone
Breaking this placid scene, an
Overwhelming rush of thoughts
And phrases, too jumbled to commit
To the page. And, now that we are
Here, we forget what it was like
When we were there, before the
Tumult that took hold of an overactive
Imagining of creatures of the deep
Too terrible to fathom. I do not scorn
The underwater currents that led to
This whirling change, founded on an
Ancient, submerged sanctuary, lost
To the buffet of time and tide.
Rather, I embrace the sea change
Even as I look to the horizon that
Turns the clear water into a rainbow
Of hue and shade. I see this world
In color, a thousand points of light,
Each with their shared shadow that
Holds the power to bring the dead
Back to life. And while we may,
At times, rage like the sudden
Ocean storm, it offers solid proof
That we are alive, and in being
Alive, we can embrace the
Aftermath with a serenity and calm,
A peace that passes understanding.
And that is my epitaph, carved into
The stone forehead for all the
Wondering world to receive. Yes,
Truly it is better to have lived and
Loved and lost, than never to have
Lived or loved or lost at all.

-Dakin 11/26/08

I Trip Through

Share your shapely shadow with the
Shallows of my shame and stay with
Me a night to stave off sorrows
That remain from far off days
Denied. Inside I wish to play
Without the rain that washes down
What wills ourselves to sample simple
Songs of summer breeze. Stay with
Me in slumber and surrender up the
Rust that’s eaten at your trust to come
Together over me. Make me feel the
Fine of fairer folk who stroll the sandy
Shore, ignoring those they do not see;
Living at the mercy of an over-gracious
God. Give to me the gift of you:
Uncombed, among the tangles I’ll take
The time to stay with you and hope you’ll
See the sense in staying longer for a
While. Today, tonight I’ll give to you, the
Gift of frozen time to rest within my
Over longing arms, empty for a form to
Fill them. Frantic for the faith to
Fill me. From a far off fate I’ll
Fade into the mirror that you hold.
Give me now your heart of gold and
Watch me unfold each layer there –
I’ll stare and open my soul to
Compose for you a rhyme. Don’t let
Me go – I will not let you go; so
Shine upon the path I place my feet.
Star light, star bright, Come into my arms
Tonight – I’ll see you face to face
My morning star.

-Dakin 10/31/95

Sorrow

The glass of a mirror paints
A distorted image of the look
That lists on its polished face,
The gaze that slips from each
Found wrinkle in the stare that
Meets the eyes of its inquisitor.
The face that so resembles
The gasp of summer gone now,
Caught in the last clinging leaves
Refusing to let slip their grip
From those now lifeless wood
Arms that stretch toward an
Unseen heaven so far away.
And in these eyes I see a soul
Smashed as an atom in a ring
That runs miles around under the
Barren landscape, made all in the
Name of progress and research.
These words of modern advance
That no more supply promise
Than the gamble that is taken
On any given day at so many
Mechanical monuments to our
Greed, drinking in the coins that
We continue to feed to them.
The bits and pieces of a singular
Struggling soul falling like the
Shattered rain on oversaturated
Soil no longer willing to drink.

-Dakin 11/12/08

Reach Out

The arms of 60 million strong
Reached out with me and let
Their voices be heard sounding
Across oceans and land masses
Far from this lasting land of ours.
And the world danced in the
Streets and alleys and the dirt
Pathways that may never know
The touch of paving stones.
There is now a place forged
That was not there of yesterday,
A time designed that was not
Cut from this pattern a year ago.
The month of November will be
Blessed forever in the forged
Hope that brings justice rolling
Down with the righteous waters
Of the heavens sitting high above.
There is an awakening taking
Place, an awakening from the
Dream spoken of over the
Passing of 45 years and longer.
Now there is an eye to the
Future, found here in the present,
Putting to rest the mythos of
Past generations who claimed
With no uncertainty that this
Day could not come while the
Memory remained in the living.
But I stand here today and bear
Witness to the arms of 60 million
Strong and the voice of this nation,
And join in the dance of the world
In those streets and alleys and
Dirt pathways and celebrate a day.
There is a hope that is shown in the
One small step of a man, measured
As a giant leap for mankind, giving
Pause to another man’s Dream;
Sharpening society’s vision.
A collected cornucopia sitting
On the dining room table waiting
To be shared among all my
Brothers and Sisters in the now.
Take this, then, my invitation
To you all to sup at my table
And to extend your reach
To attain the improbable,
For together we can make all
These new things possible.

-Dakin 11/5/08