Druid

Gath'ring now in dimming light
Round vibrant blaze, a heavy daze
Grows thicker with oncoming night

Faces blurred by ashen smoke
All in a trance with crossed-arm stance
Offer up the sacrificial oak

In ancient song their voices rise
Through the trees, on whisp'ring breeze
The forest muffles their primal cries

A sudden hush as one steps forth
Wave of hand, no more they stand
But sit as the elder gestures north

Through moonlit clouds his tales unfold
Of stars and sky and times gone by
His enraptured audience forgetting the cold

The breeze, nay, wind, now growing loud
A sudden flash, a deaf'ning crash
The thunder shakes the gathered crowd

A beat not lost in the gath'ring storm
The elder's eyes glint like steel against flint
Fire, moonlight, and shadow distorting his form

Words filling beds of dry rivers of thought
Unmasking their fears, he brings them to tears
In nets of pure image their minds have been caught

But now the rain begins to fall
All on their feet, they now retreat
The elder trails, alone and tall

Into the shadows they disperse
Through days of yore and tales of lore
'Cross deepest mem'ries they traverse

If to the woods at night you bring
An open ear, you may yet hear
The echoes of their voices ring

South-West Bound

Hello friends! Important events are beginning to unravel. In case you haven't seen me post about it on FB, you should know that I am applying for a crew leader position at the Southwest Conservation Corps based in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. I feel like I am definitely capable of being a crew leader per their qualifications, but at the very least I do not think I can fail to land a job as a crew member. In fact, I was initially planning on only applying for a crew member position, but the applications for that one are not open until December, and the leader positions are open now. 

If I land the crew leader job, I will be moving out of Michigan in April...possibly even March.

This puts things into perspective. I am normally pretty good with my spending, but now I see I really need to cut some frivolous spending. Start buying more groceries and try to kill my fast-food habit. Get rid of more stuff. I have been doing this one slowly with each new place I live in, but if I am moving out West, I hope to seriously downsize. This is not from some sort of obsession with poverty, because I like having money, haha. I want to live more simply, which is very hard in America today. My ultimate goal: be able to move across the country with everything I own inside my van. This may seem outlandish to some of you, but I was almost able to do this when I moved to Grand Rapids. I'm already selling off my bicycle and bass guitar, and I'll probably be giving a bunch of my clothes to Goodwill before I leave. 

Just a quick update. I'll probably be back soon to write more.

Peace.