Some 10,000 Days Poem by Phillip Erb

The wind steals my breath away
My words never weighed much to most folks
And nowadays I don’t listen to what I say
Words can be so very hard to make
I’ve met a few who keep their lips moving so much
They disclaim all their promises
Before taking another breath
They have all the answers everyone’s been looking for everywhere
But what I hear hurts me worse between my ears and above my eyes
It’s too heavy for me to understand why people
Eat the same words for supper they had for breakfast yesterday
They keep right on talking long after there is nothing to say
Tongues grow weak if you never change what you chew

With time, light grows cloud from water one by one
The blue of empty sky turns from gray to black
Enough to shut out the sun and her belly rumbles
When she rains and the water’s always falling somewhere
The wind delivers on his time and most every one has
Cursed him about his schedule once or twice
Nevertheless, the wind pays you no mind,
He makes no promises, tells no lies,
Never says a word.

One day may the wind rise strong enough
To steal all my breath away
Silence this tongue so its victims may mend
I’ll turn to look Death in the eye
Only to see He was make-believe all along
From my bag of blood and bone
Come water,
Come earth.