There but for fortune, go you or I

V a g a b o n d     B r o t h e r

.                                                                                                   .

The times went by with the passing wind,
           days of rage, days of wonder, days on end.
We lived, loved and laughed with no thought given
           the gathering storm, lying low on a distant horizon  
at the far side of our misspent youth. .                                                                                                    .

Vagabond brother, your sea anchor's unstuck,
           and your ship's coming up fast on the reef.
The hourglass is tipped over and the compass deranged,
           spinning madly in vain search of true North,
while the merry madcap laughs up his sleeve. .                                                                                                     .

Defined by a generation, encapsulated in a time
            of consequence and turbulence we climbed
the peaks of despair, swam in the ocean of our discontent,
            searching diligently for the meaningful while
mistaking the ridiculous for the exquisitely sublime. .                                                                                                      .

Vagabond brother, your days are indelibly marked
            by the misery expressed in the lines on your face,
Happiness is a fading memory of those times past
            too quickly, squandered on cheap and tawdry pleasures,
gaily-colored mementos to decorate a dingy gray life. .                                                                                                       .

The times that were and the times to come dissolve
            into the ever-present now, sculpting the future
from wasted words and wasted time, until nothing is left,
            the masquerade is permanent, we stayed too long
at the dance, removing the mask no longer possible. .                                                                                                       .

Vagabond brother, you've cheated life of meaning,
            you pass anonymously by in plain sight,
Cast down and cast away on the shoals
            you once danced in defiance of, in merry
abandonment, now left abandoned on the street corner.