1. Wilderness *

dear wilderness, be at your best.
her armor is thin as the fabric of her dress.
i know the rules: the weaker trees bend.
but make her immune
when your temper storms in.

when she gains her balance,
be as still as you can be.
when she’s climbing branches,
be the feathers underneath.

when she regains her balance,
be as steady as she needs.
when she trusts you blindly,
be her worthy lock and key.

though it goes against
every grain of your sand,
like turning wolves
into lambs,
be your best for her,
your best for her.

when she holds her balance,
be as gentle as she needs.
when she shines her brightest,
let no dark cloud intervene.

2. Hit or Miss +

hurry, hurry up and wait
is how the waiting game is played.
a thousand moving parts keep score
inside the watch we can’t ignore.

so let’s hurry, let’s hurry up and wait.

much too tired to try,
much too stubborn to quit,
on an island in between
the coasts of hit or miss.
are we settlers or are we natives of this land?
only time will tell
on which pedestal we were meant to stand.

so let’s hurry, let’s hurry up and wait.
so let’s hurry, let’s hurry, hurry up and wait.

every cloud above’s full of splattered paint,
every seed below lies patiently in wait.
but a watched kettle never boils,
a watched tree never grows.
may we have our tea in the forest,
may we reap all that we sow.

so let’s hurry, so let’s hurry, hurry up, hurry up and wait.
so let’s hurry, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up and wait.

3. Aperture ~

happiness is somewhere i have been before-
a blurry photograph that i have since ignored.
i’ll carefully adjust the aperture once more,
until i set the record straight.

i’ll brush aside the dim, make room for the bright.
i’ll be an editor, no, a curator of light.
i’ll let my better angels always set me right,
until i even out the score.
until i even out the score.

God, it has been quite a year-
i’ve lived a little bit and i’ve died a little more.
i know that i’ve asked it before,
but please let the scale tip here in my favor.

what was once the sweetest melody i’ve heard
is now a memory reduced to little words.
i’ll tune the orchestra and play the overture,
until i pinpoint every note.

give me the heart of an archeologist,
that i may dig until i prove that i exist.
a subterranean cathedral in my midst,
where echos come to rest.
where echos come to rest.
is this where echos come to rest?

God, it has been quite a year-
i’ve lived a little bit and i’ve died a little more.
i know that i’ve asked it before,
but please let the scale tip here in my favor.

until i set the record straight,
until i set the record straight,
until i can set the record straight.