Where have you been

Old  friend?

Long time, no see.

Where have you been

Wandering around all this time?

Did you clasp the proverbial

Gold at rainbow’s end?

Did you find what

You were looking for?

Are you happy or sad?

Do you feel lost?

What do you plan on

Doing now that you are here?

I see that the wanderlust

In your eyes has not died

Down even with the passage of time.

What can I do for you?

How can I help you?

Let’s celebrate this finite hour

With an alcoholic beverage or two

Just me and you

And forget about our troubles.

Let bygones be bygones

And let’s look to the future

Which is uncertain and opaque

But holds wonder like

A cup that holds water.

 

Patron

 

I don’t know about

Where, how or why

You found me

One fine day

A lost and confused soul

Adrift in the sea

But knowing you,

Filled my heart with glee.

I was a work-in-progress

To be sure

Even so, you did not

Show me the door.

Little by little,

I learned the ropes

And how to cope

With failure and loss

Yet, you refused to

Count the cost:

Thanks for all

The help and support

That’s what I

Have to report.

 

Somewhere along the way

We stopped growing

And lost sight of

The plain truth.

Instead, we rushed

Here, there and everywhere

With nervous hands

And restless feet,

Achieving nothing of significance.

After all, we were entangled

In fleeting pleasures:

We were too busy

And could not find

The time to smell

The roses

And gather tulips and daisies

In our palms.

Everything was for sale

And everybody had a price.

Somewhere along the way

We forgot to rebel

Against arcane laws that

Did not make any sense.

Somewhere along the way

We discarded the hippie

And wore a three piece suit

And joined the corporate world.

Somewhere along the way

We turned into an insensitive

And passive beast

And lost our touch

With the experience of eternity.

Somewhere along the way

We fell prey

To conventional wisdom

And peer pressure

And lost sight of our

Questioning minds and inherent wisdom.

Somewhere along the way.