December

Maddie, sing for me again
For it's been too damn long since your voice has called to me
And join me in the memories I make

With false friends who couldn't seem truer in the moment
And true friends due to fade out of the spotlight
And friendly faces which are only so friendly
But at least I know where they stand.

Maddie, sing for me tonight
Sing for me for all time

Sing for me and my home
Broken down and reassembled

My relationships
Ripped to pieces and sometimes mended

My career
On life support and thrown a lifeline

My life
Deconstructed and reconstructed.

Maddie, sing for me and all the beautiful faces
All the beautiful bodies
All the beautiful souls
For to me, they're merely beautiful strangers
And in a different time, I might have cared.

Most of all, Maddie, sing for me
Sing for the sense I try to make of it all

The elation
The madness

The brilliance
The stupidity

The adoring
The despising

The living for life
The living to die.

Maddie, sing for me while I'm still living.
Maddie, sing for me before I die.

Maddie, sing for me again
And again and again and again
For nothing else will ever be the same
Once December has come to an end.

[This poem is dedicated to Madalean Gauze, whose album Sing has defined my 34th year more than any other, especially the song Accumulations of Life.]