Life..

 I’ve seen the Milky Way from the desolation of Big Bend,  lighting up the sky like a celestial beacon..Even with no moon one could easily negotiate a goat trail to the bottom of the canyon. I’ve seen the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island through the early mist and fog of a Spring morning - when San Francisco was still the most beautiful city in America..I’ve been to Mardi Gras, and I’ve looked into the sculpted eyes of a 4,000 year old Egyptian queen.. I’ve seen the plaster casts of the unfortunate victims of the destruction of Pompeii by Mount Vesuvius.. You could still see the look of desperation on their faces after 2,000 years..

I’ve swam the Brazos at night with two friends, when it was still a mighty river, trying to answer the siren calls of girls laughing on the other side at a Girl Scout camp.. I’ve survived the explosion of a one pound can of 3-F black powder in my hand, in my own living room.. I’ve mourned for too many friends who decided that life just wasn’t for them anymore, and so ended theirs.. I’ve loved, and I’ve lost - telling young people that they aren’t an adult until they’ve had their heart ripped out and stomped into goo.. I’ve known and cherished several of the best damn dogs that ever caught a frisbee or tree’d a coon..    

I’ve been in places that were so hazardous to my life that the indigenous people there thought I was surely insane, so it would be bad luck to kill me..I’ve crossed the English Channel on a ferry in February weather that was so intense everyone on board wished it would just go ahead and sink, so that they could stop puking over the side..Seen the White Cliffs of Dover, which meant that we’d made it..I’ve seen the grave of Jim Morrison and seen Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower..I’ve flirted with beautiful ladies shopping on the Champs Elysee’.. I’ve walked in the footsteps of Julius Caesar and felt the measured stomp of Roman  legionnaires and German soldiers.. I’ve had friends who would charge hell with a bucket of ice water with me..

And it feels like if I blink - it’ll all be over..And someday I’ll be right..                       Life is short - get on with yours..

JBS Blackheart