Friends for the Finale

Some of you I've forgotten how you walked into my life
While others I'll never forget your graceful entrance.
I am humbled in this home, hallowed by your presence.

How long a friendship lasts is not what makes it important
But rather the ability to endure such tests.
Some of us have been forced apart by time, distance and mortality;
Others just as grand, but never quite the same as any one of you,
Have come alongside to shine in this grand and vast Milky Way.

If I could I would have us all build a permanent home together,
I would raise it up as a shelter; never a place of want or need.
We would shelter this storm and others that would come and pass.

But we can't, this story was not meant to unfold this way.

So arm your promises and practice your "Good-byes"
But let's walk together, please, over one, last, final hill.

No Man

Remember, no man is stronger than the one who asks questions,
Because asking questions leads to answers and these will strengthen you.
They will pull you out of the dirt and sand where you have been for so long.

No man is really made of iron or steel or stone but of heavier things.
You are flesh and blood and dreams and failures and strengths.
Remember this, build your home on these, but don't let it pull you down to the deep.

No man is less than the sum of his whole,
But does that really just mean that no man is more than an island?
That we're designed to be defined by the globe and not the sand and trees?

So what are we supposed to be?
We can spend our whole lives chasing one mystery after another
But are we ever content with the man behind the curtain once it's drawn back?

Now hear this, ahead of you are ravines and cliffs and mountains and caverns.
Charge on and be clever bout it; living well and dying well are two sides of the coin
Map your journey and share it with those behind; accept from those ahead.

Remember dear soul,
Travel well but never alone, for your light will shine brightest among other bearers.

No Man

Calling Old Friends

Don't you dare,
Don't you dare settle for a life less extraordinary.
It's all right to be a mess and to be confused.
It's all right to be human and sometimes feel bruised.

It's not okay,
It's not okay to remain that way.
Forgive and forget and seek on.
Fight and triumph and remember how far you've gone.

Never forget,
Never forget how far you've come.
Take a risk on the people you will see.
Take a chance on the people who remember who you used to be.

Pride before Possibility

And what can you say you're proud of?
Asked the old man with weathered hands and bent back.

I...I...don't know...

His smile said that's okay as he nods his head and his eyes back this up.

I'm proud of my journey and with that he continued.
Passing people who never knew his name.
Jobs he never received a paycheck from.
A woman who never returned his love.
Kids who never called back.

Lefts that he made rights and rights that went straight.

On high and at peace at last.
The old man found rest.