Birth

Water washes over me like magma
I'll be okay, I always am
Until I'm not

I remember the first poem I wrote
It was about the moon
I knew then nothing would ever be the same

I'm an outlaw poet
It's nothing I aspired to be, but when the claws of creation took hold I knew I was born to be wild
Heard "Like a Rolling Stone" on the radio the other day and I felt no fear and I still feel no fear

The tide's coming in and I don't even live near water
In fact I'm a water sign and have avoided the deep end ever since I nearly drowned right beneath a lifeguard's toes
This crab takes his shell wherever he goes and when I'm dead I'll find another shelter to call my very own

I remember the first time I walked out onto a stage
How for the first time in my life I felt comfortable in my own skin
I knew from then on everything would be different and I thanked God for entrusting me with art

Our birth and our death are the same playing card just in reverse
Think about when you were born because death is just like going back to the beginning
Put on your lifejacket and swim out past the rocks and I'll meet you there in a little while.