Running with the herd

The pavement has lapped up the heat of the summer,
to gum up my tires and tear at the rubber
in an attempt to slow me down.
But I'm already beyond the boundaries of the town.

I can't seem to breathe as the breezes swim past.
In this ocean of wind I'm a sunk pirate chest
where the ship has rotted away,
and my handles and lid are fraught with decay.

But still life rushes on in its pain and delight.
I watch, insincere with routine oversight.
And my world is still worth the return -
in this fracas and fray I've got much overturned.

I pay at the pumps and steep myself in debt,
run on the back roads and sit on the front steps.
And I wander by rest stops and roads.
Each sleep-deprived moment satisfies some new goal.

If I pick up the pieces and keep the floors swept,
I'll amount to something with promises kept
to blend with the flock and the flow
of each aging face - someplace special to go.

Well that sky has reached noon and it's my turn to try
to stop sleeping so late with my dreams in the sky
and start running pace with the herd.
I may go unspoken, but I've listened and heard

as the desert swallows hillside and each grid bares its teeth.
Land becomes blank like wool cut from a sheep.
And the drums from the march echo still
past the farm in the suburbs, the monument mill.

I'll stand strong in the current and anchor my feet.
Stoic, resilient, I will admit defeat.
"Sun, burn my back and my bones!
And take what you need back to old Davey Jones!"

But my courage is curt where my heart has no bounds.
So I'll take what I get and fancy what I've found,
which is simple, and nothing but love -
the best form of therapy, a miracle drug.

Take that small bit of stardust and spread it about.
It's all that we get - and not so hard without.
Our troubles are what we have earned,
where the strength comes in seeing what we can endure.

So with the mountains our walls and the forest our floor,
pack up your things and join me out the door.
Huddle up round the campfire flames
and we'll burn all the worries we so tactfully and handsomely crafted for our shame.