The virtue of being discontent

I wish for nothing more than almost perfect well-being
That I could experience a near complete serenity
That through 90% of the fibres of my conscious feeling
I could be a satisfied and content entity

I ask this as well though - grant me a dash of discontent
Do not let me be without this small internal unease
A sense that that the world in which I am present
Is still real, for it still has its grime and sleaze

I need that dash, to give me drive
Towards not settling for things as they are
It'll give me purpose, make me alive
And though I may not improve things far

It will ensure that I don't become complicit
That I keep fighting for my friends
So that ideally they too can all also elicit
A near complete contentment in the end

This is the tale of someone always beginning

This is the tale of someone always beginning
Always starting strong
Ready with an intro to anything they're singing
Never the whole song
Let me tell you, I've never seen a jack-of-all-trades
So truly master of none
Beautiful skylines on paintings that all quickly fade
As if only just begun

There is an adrenaline rush that strikes synapses
When starting something new
So they build and build and then of course it collapses
As these things tend to do
Do they persevere? No. Where's the rush in that?
Where's the inspiration?
The old idea is already old hat, deflated and flat
And would need perspiration.

Look, sometimes ideas must be let go
Don't cling on to things all the time
But just once, resist, control the flow
Dictate the nature of the desired rhyme

Sometimes, it'll need hammering into form
Find a project worth pouring the self in
Learn how to whether the inevitable storm
Don't stop. Not this time. Not with this thing.

There is often no rush in finishing
Just exhaustion. Relief at being finally done
It requires more than just wishing
It'll require more than one moon and one sun
Long projects absorb identity
And don't let it come back for a good long while
But it'll release eventually
Then look back at what has been done and smile

And then, and then,
After a rest to piece a functioning person back together
That point is when
The start, the rush, that new-project pleasure
It'll feel different now
For a project has been start while knowing
The somewhere, somehow
This is the tale of a person that sees projects to their end

Maturity

What a joy it is to be past that awkward stage of growing up
Where, for the sake of marking a point in time
We decide that we no longer like those stories we liked when we were younger
Because we are mature now

But those things defined us, made us who we are
Even if we do grow past it, we never really grow far
Joy and Adventure are still fantastic parts of life
Even if we now balance them with bills and strife

Love the tales illustrated with gorgeous drawings
Love more nuanced things, but don't love being boring
Revisit old haunts to see angles that you didn't before
Cry openly at sad tales but smile openly even more

Silly rhymes and ditties may have more meaning on reflection
You will be richer for giving your inner child some introspection
Be passionate about something the adult world refuses
Don't wait until parenthood, and don't worry about excuses

You are the only person setting up barriers about what you consume
Yes, we need some barriers and filters because there is so much in this World
But don't let yourself miss out on the silly and the simple
Be actually mature. And embrace it all.

The escape

Sometimes, I want to write poetry as an escape
Because I have one feeling in my mind
And it's STUCK in there

So, I grab my keyboard
(not as dramatic as a pen but it'll do)
I sigh loudly before I sit down

It doesn't work
It never works
Not at first

I sit with that one feeling
Occasionally, I don't escape
That one feeling becomes my poem

Other times though, it morphs
I find a different angle
Create a different take

I find freshness out of monotony
Things become less stale
Slowly. Almost accidentally.

The poet's escape is a difficult trick
Like many tricks, it is skill and determination
And there is magic in it

Lonely sometimes

We're all lonely sometimes.
But there's nothing stopping us being lonely together

Sit alone with me awhile
As we each go through our own bad weather

It's a big world out there
And it's also a big world inside here

Come, be alone with me
So that you're not alone in your hope or your fear

The future is scary
Although I think the past was too

The present is less so
Because I'm doing it with you