COME AROUND

There is no way out of here, 

no way out of now either, 

no hidden doorway, no secret passage, 

no escape tunnel, no nothing, nada--

even though my mind tries to escape 

all day and half the night. 

But this is a good thing. 

Keeps me grounded. 

Oh, my thoughts and feelings

will make a run for it if I let them, 

and even sometimes when I don’t.

They’ll sink me deep into my dreariest past 

or fly me into my dreamiest future, 

but they always boomerang back to the present. 

There’s a good reason for all this. 

Any place I choose that’s other than right here, 

and any time other than right now 

is purely arbitrary. And I’m the sole arbiter. 

That can't be good.

But here and now hold my place in line,

keep me tethered to the universe. 

They keep me safe from my wayward self, 

make me stay put when I’m tempted to bolt, 

even bring me back home when I get lost. 

It’s like they’re my two best friends, 

only want what’s best for me 

even when I don’t know what that is, 

can't see it or. . . don’t want to see it. 

They’re always telling it like it is, 

always right whether I like it or not. 

Sometimes they’ll play good cop bad cop; 

one will sweetly remind me that what’s next 

can only be grounded in what's now, 

the other will scold me that there’s no way 

to get to there without starting at here.

When it comes to the here and now, 

there are no workarounds, no go arounds. 

Just come arounds.