Afterword
A word from the author
I put this rhyme here so you’d know
it’s a poem: to you, from me,
but how many more poems right outside
your door did you forget to see?
The crack in your leavened bread,
the froth on your milk,
the fresh rain on the glass,
billowing as if it were silk.
Not all poems arrive
arranged in perfect lines.
Plenty you can’t see, but you’ll know
are there if your heart aligns.
And though they may not yet
be built from verse or word,
they’ll wink at you to shape them into
the music of your inner songbird.
And when your heart breaks,
or when the day is long—
when there’s only rubble left, and
you think you must simply move along,
the poet in your soul will cry out
and raise her hands to the sky,
“This is your poem, and if you don't
claim it, it’s only your own heart you deny.
And if you feel lost and
you forget your truth,
just sink into the dream place,
for it will give you your proof
that your answers are
within you, every last one.
Just wait for the darkness
behind the sun.
For when the moon is full,
or when she is new,
remember, our bodies are water,
and the tides will tell you
that dreams are not fiction—they
are merely a sharper looking glass
to examine the truth to come,
and has already come to pass.
So if you have something to do, say,
or make, no better day than today to start.
It’s your obligation to follow only those
pursuits which truly vibrate your heart.
Be patient with your journey and remember
that all things that matter also take time.
That’s one of the many tricks of poetry,
forcing you to slow down with its meter and rhyme.
For every bold act, every roaring
protest for what’s right,
there are boundless quiet revolutions
not always as obvious to plain sight.
For these, we need our poets, our dreamers—
to touch both our spirit and our mind
so we can keep what truly matters
alive for all humankind.
It’s the intention of a good tall tale
to awaken that sleeping warrior in you.
Courage is simply believing what in
your heart you already know to be true.
It’s the ability to do something that frightens
you so much you’d rather leave it undone.
And it’s why so many of history’s greatest true
warriors never once wielded a weapon against anyone.
Dreams can’t always solve dark crimes
or spare the world of the evil powers that be,
but they are the poetry of your subconscious,
and hold the clues that can help you truly see.
A dream, after all, is simply an idea that arrives
to your conscious mind only as you sleep.
And it’s ideas that change the world forever,
inviting humankind to take the next bold leap.