Never to Heaven

May my eyes always stay level to the horizon

may they never gaze as high as heaven, to ask why

May I never go where angels fear to tread

so as to have to ask for answers in the sky

The whys in this lifetime I've found are inconsequential

compared to the magic of the nowness - the solution to most

questions

there are no reasons

And if there are - I'm wrong

but at least I won't have spent my life waiting

looking for God in the clouds of the dawn

I'll be up early to rise though of course -

but only to make you a pot of coffee

That's what I was thinking this morning Joe

that it's times like this as the marine layer lifts

off the sea from the view of our favorite restaurant

that I pray that I may

always keep my eyes level to your eyeline

never downcast at the table cloth

You see, Joe

it's times like this that the marine layer lifts

off the sea on the dock without candle lit

that I think to myself

there are things you still don't know about me

like sometimes I'm afraid my sadness is too big

and that one day you might have to help me handle it

But until then

may my eyes always stay level to the skyline

assessing Long Beach's glittering new development

never higher than the tallest building

never to heaven or revenant

'Cause I have faith in man as strange as that seems

in times like these

and it's not just because of the warmth I've found in your

brown eyes

It's because I believe in the goodness in me

that it's firm enough to plant a flag in

or a

rosebud

or to build a new life.