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CASABLANCA

7 billion people in the world

5 million gin joints

300,000 clichés

and you just happened

to become mine

Everyone always wants to know

the what, the how, the why

why, why, WHY

they ask over and over

I want to say

Have you ever seen the face of the man

on the dark side of the moon?

Have you ever swam so deep that

the ocean swallowed you completely?

Have you ever sung your secrets

to a mountain range covered in snow?

They'd say

No, but

what about the rest of the people?

What about the other gin joints?

What if you gave up on clichés?

Tell us what, tell us how, and why

why, why, WHY

Instead, I'd answer

Well, I have.

The man on the dark side of the moon

has eyes you can lose yourself in

and a smile that says

so much more than his brighter counterpart.

I have sat with him for hours now

to learn more than the sun

could even fathom.

And the undiscovered depths of the ocean

have angler fish whose lights look like rainbows.

You can't tell me sirens don't exist

if you've never traveled to the spot

where salt collects on the floor of the sea,

because trust me, they are down there,

wings clipped but voices sweet and strong.

And there is nothing like the feeling

of setting your pain and victory

to a melody and yelling it to the rocks and the sky,

letting the cold air scrape your lungs and throat

only to exit in a puff of white mist,

while your voice echoes off to the horizon,

the vibrations barely enough to wake

a snowflake from its slumber at the peak.

Return with your questions

only after you have felt the magnitude of the world.

I don't think you'll need to ask them any more.

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