Sitting out here in the heat of the day,
thinking ’bout life, how it slips away.
To be young again, in mind and in heart,
Reliving our pasts, if only in parts.
So many things we’d do differently
Now that we know the path that it leads.
But in life we live and we learn
To not touch the stove only after we’re burned.
Teaching the young is so often forgotten,
Only to blame them when they have gone rotten.
Now as I sit here listening to things,
The sound of the wind, the flap of birds wings,
I think back on my life wondering what I could change.
Would it make my life different, would a new life feel strange?
Hard to imagine a life different from mine,
The trials, the hardships, and all the fun times.
I’ve made my mistakes, made quite a few.
I’ve made people cry, caused hearts to break too.
Can’t say all of my choices have made me proud,
I’ve hurt lots of people and was often too loud.
The older we are the harder it gets,
But one thing I know is I have few regrets.
The scars on my body and on my heart
Are what make me in whole and in part.
I sit here and think as the time passes by
Where I will be with it’s my time to fly.
a
This was written over the past few days after sitting with my step-dad as he continues to battle stomach cancer.
The Life of J-Wo 
This is beautiful..I feel the same way sometimes…and it’s like you said it in a way I couldn’t.
Thank you for the kind words and for stopping by. My other stuff isn’t like this but I hope you stick around anyway. haha
Well said….very poignant….I’ll pray for him, and for you and yours….we’re all flawed in ways, but it sucks becaus too many really good people have to deal with these things. Stuff like this should only happen to the worst people.
Thanks Mike. James is definitely one of the good ones. It tears my heart out to see him so weak and frail like this.
This is beautiful!! Love it.
Thanks. Guess there’s more to me than just picking on Tammy.
Sorry to hear about your step-dad. It’s hard to watch someone struggle. 😦
Beautifully written.
It’s definitely been hard to watch. He’s still fighting but he just isn’t making much progress right now.
Beautiful poem.
Thanks you. I’m glad you liked it.
This is so beautiful and deeply honest. My mom is battling Breast Cancer and I too have sat and thought about what I would change in my life as a result of seeing how her’s has turned out. What I have taken away is that each day must be lived to the fullest…not in a hokey way but to stop at different points and take in what you have and appreciate it. There can’t be anymore “I wish I could…” now I just plan when I will…
I am so sorry to hear about your Step Dad by the way. Best of luck to him and your family during this time. It can be so hard to watch but I am sure harder to endure first hand.
It’s definitely been an eye-opening experience that’s raised a lot of questions for me, about life, how I’d want to go, etc.
He’s an amazing man and I hate seeing him struggle like this especially when there’s nothing I can do to help, or anyone else for that matter.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful piece of yourself and what you are going through.
Russ
Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words.
I am sorry for what you and your family are going through. Beautiful poem.
Writing this was out of the norm for me, but I felt it captured where I was and what I was thinking. Thanks for the kind words.
Very beautiful.
Thanks “Shoes.” The last two lines of the poem cause me to tear up every time I read it because I’m so close to someone whose time to fly is almost here.
Beautiful poem. Cool photo.