walking on an edge
it's rough
it's rigid
it makes no sense
how does it fit
in the scheme of life
pictures all around
tell a story few can describe
what's beyond the edge of this frame?
is there a bigger picture
am I part of a puzzle
woven into the universe at large

taking a step so close to the edge
I feel as I'm about to fall
connecting to fragments around me
figuring out what to do next
the bigger picture is a goal
what am I trying to obtain?
they say a man who falls must get up again
if that man falls once
I can see the struggle

if that man falls seven times;
the struggle more intense
some days, I feel as though I'm swallowed
caught in the day-to-day
stretching my eyes to see tomorrow
to see beyond the simple life
safari, jungle, my brain
can get tangled in the web
graffiti on a bus, a train
speaking a message few can hear
or even try to understand

pen to paper
feelings unjust
heart melting, angered, and hardened
walls and bricks protect my feelings
screaming, crying, wanting the world
to know, to accept, to care
putting myself out there
yet longing to retreat
God, where are you ?
how do you fit in this puzzle of mine

giving, making, time
does it all slip away
with nothing to show?
a gravestone with a date
an end, a finality
feeling lost, tears stinging
the corners of my eyes
an unknown feeling
in the pit of my stomach
pain, a common denominator
connecting sidewalks, trees,
flowers, parks
rubber on the road

a vapor, a mist,
a tulip beside the road
trying to reach the sky
doing it's job, longing
to fulfill its purpose
why do we do the things we do?
why do we stub our toes
and wonder how it happened
pen to paper, feeling
words that just escape
lingering, longing, for
something more than what I have
reaching out beyond tomorrow

numbers, letters, what's the point?
deep philosophy, cleaning toilets,
everything has a time and place
silence, noise, keeper of time
are we in charge of our destiny?
longing to have a hand held,
our lips touched,
our hair smoothed
longing to feel that touch

as paintbrushes long to
touch a canvas
as shoes long to touch
the dance floor
as a ring longs to connect
to a hand
symbolic, meaning, lying
deep below the soil -
the ground, the beaten
well-traveled ground
the sky, the long-observed
long, thought out pattern
of space
created by the one and only Creator...
heaven and earth