You got some bad news
You took it face first
Like people often do
No matter how advanced
An enlightened perspective's no
safeguard against
A real life
With its nosedives
Its gutter lows
Its sunrise heights

I heard you say,
"I'm an acrobat
I cheated death
Now death is cheating back
I thought I might hide out
Become the empty sky
But I had to land
I couldn't find
Somewhere unoccupied"

You sang in ghost notes:
A second history
A pool of broken code
I felt the moment slide
You were bridging the halves of a great divide

I heard you say,
"If there's an architect
Let's see the plan
Let's see who gets it next
I'm sure, sometimes,
Except when I'm certain otherwise."
I felt your hand fold into mine,

And I was preoccupied
Felt fleeting & small
Completely surrounded by
The fates of us all
You were the troubled one
But you took me on
You carried me along

I heard you say,
"Go be a welcome mat.
A sign of home;
An uncomplicated fact
Outside yourself,
the whole world is helping someone else.
An act of grace, a clearing mind -
Somewhere unoccupied"