"What's Next?"

I guess it’s like my momma said:
“you can’t draw blood from a stone, Baby.
You can’t expect flowers from dust.
You can’t expect to find a foundation when
you’ve been living your life on the cusp.

You can’t complain that you’re
gasping for air when you
keep getting pulled out to sea.
And you can’t complain that your heart gets stolen
when you keep handing over the keys.

You can’t keep banging
your head on the wall
and waiting for things to appear.
No, you should have learned long ago, my love,
you have to make do with what’s here.

And if that’s not enough, well
it’s time to step back and
take a look at the choices you’ve made.
At the end of the day, all I can say is that
you must walk down the path you create.

If that path is wrong, you can’t
point fingers, because I need
you to remember this too:
it’s never too late to turn around,
my dear, but that’s entirely up to you.

But don’t spend your life
looking for light in all the places
you know are too dark.
I know you want a fire that’ll set off the world
but there are some things that just can’t spark.” 

Momma, I know I should listen to you.
I know that you’re speaking the truth.
But I’ve got a penchant to gamble
and the desire to ramble
that I haven’t learned to soothe.

So I’m still running
headfirst into walls
and burning my hands on the stove.
Maybe one day I’ll learn to stand back, but
it’s not looking too good, I suppose.

2012