162)
Let’s call this a toast
or call this something
or let me call this nothing else
but a reflection of my respect.
or let’s call it what it is
so we can leave it at that
and get on with it.
I raise my glass to those
or to them who remain unafraid
and I raise my glass to those
who remain untested
and to them, I say
may the tests from life be brief
but impactful.
I share my respects
and I offer this
to those who refuse to surrender,
or for those
who the word quit does not exist,
and certainly more,
I send this out to the universe
as a sign of my admiration
and deepest respect and regard,
for you
the underdog.
I admire you . . .
No one told you the odds,
did they?
And even if someone told you
the odds,
I raise my glass
because you refuse to listen
and still, you roll forward
and move straight ahead
because, to you, even if there is no shot,
there is no quit,
at least not in you
and that’s what I love most
about you, the underdog.
I raise my glass
to you, the hurt one
and the revealed, the exposed,
and to you
the humbled and the humiliated
and to you,
the modest of them all,
I offer my most sincere appreciation
because although
you wore the egg on your face,
you still never ceased to be you.
Not too many people
will say
they can be themselves
after being exposed
and, at the same time,
not many people can get back up
or rise or stand up
and keep their pride intact.
I offer my condolences
to those who lost and to those
who had to bury their love
even when their love is still alive.
And yes, I offer this
with all sincerity
to you, the loved one
the hurt one
the bleeding heart
and still, I offer this more so
because regardless
of what life has shown you
or took away,
you are famously
because you will always be
the hopeless romantic,
hopelessly lost
and hopeful yet again,
because despite life
or the unfair terms
of life’s surprises –
yes, you have stolen my heart.
I say cheers to the indifferent
and cheers to the hypocrites
and cheers to liars and the cheats
and cheers to the dishonesties
and the disloyalties
and I say cheers
because these are the ideas
that opened our eyes
because this is what caused you
to see me,
at least the real me,
both faces, both sides
the good, the bad, the ugly
and this is to you
the moment of awareness
because had it not been for you
or this, or had it not been
for the way life unfolds,
I might not have
seen the light, the way
or the truth.
I raise my glass and toast
and say blessed are you
the one who reveals to me
the truth of my own soul
because had it not been for you,
I’d have walked the world
misled and alone
misguided,
and I would have lived a life
misdirected by misperceptions
and my life would have went on
misunderstanding the truth of the matter
which is, I am all too frightened
and all too guarded
and all too armed for a war
that was never even real.
Fear in the heart is not bad
per se
but fear overruling life
is what leads us to waste
or,
to die alone –
unloved.
And to you
the meek,
to you
those who shall inherit the earth
the humblest of all,
and to you the weak
but strong,
you are stronger than I have ever been
yet I walked and acted
as if I were empowered
when, in fact,
I was the first to be last
and the last to be first.
Here’s to you,
the world around me.
Thank you for your lessons in humility
and thank you
for not forsaking me.
But
most of all,
thank you for loving me
even when my love was unavailable
or better yet
thank you for loving me
when love was otherwise impossible.
Please, be patient with me
I am only
a man . . .
Silly and sad
weak and timid
but hopeful
and hungry
awaiting to be gentle
like the lion
who behold
will lay down with the lamb.
The Written Addiction 