01. Hands Like Anvils

You were born to this world naked,

Appraised and adored

You were made a blank canvas

To impress and record

And I completed that proverbial "we,"

So inexplicably bound

And we'll share this flesh detail

As long as "we're" around

Oh, how we use this vessel,

Your hands like anvils

Compounding words of wisdom

To smith our tools

And you came home to a warm household

Stocked with fair amenities

And you approached each scholastic endeavor

With savant-esque ease

And after graduating with your papers,

You stoked a flame of your own

And with your one and only you scaffolded

Equally shared bones

And oh, all the seasons push over

Like bumbling brothers

Eagerly awaiting

To take their turn

And the cycle continues to spin

Each day a passing glint

I must say I'm most impressed

By all this time you collect

They found your body naked

On the bathroom floor

Now, I'll spare the grotesque details,

But it was a scene to abhor

And you spent hours evaporating,

Too weak to stand

Until your scarce visitor had entered with

An outstretched hand

And now you sink slower than ever

Next to a pane of passing weather

With only its filtered sunlight

To grace your bed

I am grateful for all I have learned

But before this bridge is burned

There's one last question I must arrest

Have you had time to reflect?

In your old age

On your vain mistakes

And regrets you made

All the things you've lost

Your void memory box

All the opportunities you had left unaddressed

Have you had time to reflect?

Have you had time to expect

Any company

In your fleeting weeks

Between bouts of sleep

Any caring hearts

That know what you are

And can stand to see you at less than your best

Have you had time to expect

Which exact steps come next

As you ration every breath?

Your movement feels so uncandid

As the fractals form under your eyelids

You take a look around the room

At these faces you swear you must knew

Compelled to speak some advice

You say, "You've got to live your longest life."