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I end this year the way I lived it—moving.
Scarred knuckles, quiet wins, loud lessons.
I learned that silence can teach,
that roads don’t apologize for being long,
and that becoming costs more than dreaming.

Some days bent...

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th' inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

Free as a bird, no chains, no ties,
Drifting through endless, open skies.
No map to follow, no path too steep,
Just the wind’s whisper and skies so deep.

No weight to carry, no clock to chase,
Just open air and boundless...

Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there’s not much time,
With rivers to swim,...

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
and before the street begins,
and there the grass grows soft and white,
and there the sun burns crimson bright,
and there the moon-bird rests from his flight
to cool in the peppermint...

If it doesn’t rain
I’ll come by for sure
We’ll stroll around
And write our names
On the ground!

If it rains,
We’ll wait ‘till it stops
In the muddy humid air
We’ll drift around
Like little rainbows!

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold...

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous illusion!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never...

Isn’t it amazing,
That a burgeoning rose,
Or a magical sunset
Or a sweet song’s tune,
Or a full moon’s splendor –
Just the thought of sheer beauty:
Takes each of use –
With the certainty of a compass –
To just one...

To my sanctuary I return—
A tranquil night.
I wash the city away
From the ebony of my skin
Under a soothing stream,
Warm as the sun
That I long to see
On such a lonesome night.

On my travels up above,
I picked up a star,
Wrestled it from its place,
And dragged it down below.
It's one thing to watch stars above,
It's another to hold them in hand.
For they burn like Sulphur;
And are big like...

I have robbed the garrulous streets,
Thieved a fair girl from their blight,
I have stolen her for a sacrifice
That I shall make to this night.

I have brought her, laughing,
To my quietly dreaming garden.
For what will be...