I am what you said you are
A second-hand number
A trailing mystery

Two minutes to validation
Sign on the dotted line
I just need your signature
It’s time to play

Who’s to say
Who we are; who we’ll be
What they’ll say
Who’s the authority anyway?

I was a visual trail.
I stopped; finally…

I scanned the wake; I froze.
I basked in wonder.

I said.
“There I am again.”

I’m not a specter;
I’m not myself.

After years of running, I stopped.
My heart slowed;
I could hear it.
I took a deep breath.

I looked around;
I knew I had arrived.
I was home.

The impossible now possible.
My fleeting dreams have arrived.
Now, I let go.

I left passion behind as a burned and tattered child.
My soul burned like a white-hot iron meant to forge swords in the darkness.
As I burned, I twisted to escape the flame and ran through the deep black night.
I ran, free but lost.

I finally found my way as I wandered toward an unknown destination.
On roads less traveled winding and twisting through hidden forests.
Vaulted cliffs of desire, fear and failure thwarted me.
Finally, I crashed into the rocks of my familiar shore.

Ten years passed
My daughter is becoming
I watch her grow in awe
As I look up I see her

I see her for who she is
I see her for who she’ll become
And I see her
I see her

I see her do her best
I see her tell the truth
I see her persevere
As my heart swells like a balloon

I love her
More than life itself
More than the universe
As I look up