Surrounding myself with ancient friends
Wisdom & experiences laid upon my shelf
Bare for all to quietly consume
Providing a chance for a better version of self
Absorbing past lives without pause
Silhouettes of women from long ago
Angst from existential rights in time
Visions of dreams I wish to forgo
These books are mere placeholders
For the contents of my heart upon hardwood
Gentle reminders of our former intellect
& the hope we might return to being good
Feeling all that stress
Expectations that’ve been laid
The pressure raining down
Questioning dues already paid
Close your eyes, count it out
We’re gonna try to start again
A skip in your step – hope to hold
Take on the world with a sly grin
Securely sheltered in your castle
He makes sure you’re secluded
Always firmly safe from all harm
Obviously he’s benignly deluded
The loneliness still quietly invades
The walls upward of 10 feet high
Locks, bolts & your skeleton keys
Helpless against memories of a guy
Your suburban paradise glitters
But you’d rather be alive instead
Perfection laid at your feet, but
The punk of your youth isn’t dead
Our old & forgotten worlds reflect
Manifest destiny lost to distant memory
Totems cast to our missing energy
Fleeting virtues laid upon either plea
Our dissipated youth with judgement paid
Never to return; so get out of your own way
Be in this moment, choose positivity
Plan for the future, but be alive today
I don’t feel like an adult
Still sitting at the kids table
On the cusp of middle age
Attending tea parties when able
The girls are growing too fast
I need to slow then down
Soon, they’ll be young ladies
& won’t care if I’m around
Tracing toes to thighs
Knowing how the game is played
& the truth I’ll never deny
Everything I do, I do to get laid
Captain Q 