Anmut auf Anmut.

the further you walk,

the crazier it becomes:

the answered prayer,

the calmed fear,

the stamped-out insecurity,

the encouraging conversation,

the forgiven sin,

the truth that smacks you in the face when you really need it,

being able to laugh at tomorrow -

you didn't deserve any of this.

were there millions of gold stars to the right of your name,

you'd still not have earned it.

you never could,

ever.

yet,

He gave it to you -

not because you're awesome, but because

He is.

hype O. gly seem E. uh

my body, it seems,

burns through glucose, sucrose, fructose,

and all the other saccharides

like there's no tomorrow.

really more like no this afternoon.

it ain't no diabeetus, thankfully,

but the lightheadedness and shaking limbs

aren't so great, either.

food is the only remedy.

i guess i'm okay with that.

old hat, new shoes, pt. iii

upon reinhabiting your former room,

you find its closet, shelves, drawers,

nooks, crannies, and all other means of storage

utterly overflowing with ancient artifacts.

the time has come to don your pith helmet,

fetch your duster brush,

and go for a dig.

your discoveries are overwhelmingly clear:

you're too sentimental for your own good.

correction -

you were too sentimental for your own good.

you find that you've lived without these antiquities

for years,

and have not missed them even once.

all they do now is sit

and sit

and sit.

you now know far better than you did back then

that a ratty, old t-shirt, old class notes,

and all the other bits and bobs and odds and ends,

regardless of whatever sentimental value they possess,

there's better treasure to be found,

and that treasure

is

not

here.

vultures on the road

you make the familiar countryside trek home

down the hill, through the meadow, and up another hill.

there they are, the scavengers, juxtaposed against

the otherwise bucolic landscape,

feasting on the freshest roadkill cuisine - a skunk.

surely it's not the mildest of meals,

but they carry on.

the menacing birds

turn their foreboding gaze toward you

before they fly away for the time being.

you know they'll be back.

so,

train a sharp eye

and

plan

accordingly.