Digital Dreams

Just as Vast

By, Sean Frank

The gas fumes
Exhume memories
Dripping in amber
Smooth and clear
But with a strange glow
As old slang
And songs half-forgotten
Burst from the clouds
They were lost in

We want all the best times
All the time
But time is what it is
It acts like a god
But it ain't shit
It seems like
Such a force
Because
Of how much energy
It hastily absorbs

Maybe it's easier
To take a deep breath
And
Live in the waves
And let them take you
Every which way
The current
And swerving temperatures
Can be a bit much
But inside pain
And outside of its constraints
Love
Lives and gives off
A mystique
Bitterly tender
And bittersweet

The salt in the air
Dances with
Careless abandon
As the water falls
And rolls back
To the incomprehensible
Expanse
Of a wide open ocean

Memories scatter
And swim in waters
Deep and shallow
As we wade
Just above the surface
Taking on the worries
Of the past
Concurrently
With the worries
Of the future

The here
And now
Can sometimes
Seem as hazy
As the far off horizon
But it’s always there
And always daring
Us to close
The impossible gap
Because as infinite
As the distance is
The possibilities
Are just as vast

Those Rare Utterly Perfect Days

By, Sean Frank

Life is a mezzanine
And the view is
Suspiciously palatial
As a glacier of stillness
Steals the scene
And seals it inside
A glaze of tired tranquility

We race and shake
The dust off of the rust
Trying it's best
To reel us in

Reality is a glass of wine
And some days can
Be a hell of a sip

We drink it up
With calculated abandon
We drip in sorrow
And restless recollections
Of a fondly remembered
Tomorrow

But the sun can overshadow
The view
As rays of light
Bounce around
Like casual bolts
Of careless lightning
Sparks and energy
Unburdened
And barely frightened
Reality is always
Ground level
But also
Strangely heightened

Moments can feel cinematic
Watching memories fade
In and out of view
As ethereal music
Drops in like a cascade
Of forgotten years
Full of cautious clues
And mindlessly
Dropped change
As we took our life
Out into the open air
Towards a bonfire
Crackling with a cadence
Close to the radiance
Of those rare utterly perfect days
And found it perfectly rearranged

A Still Stream

By, Sean Frank

The residue of stress
Confused with
All of the rest
Of this scattered
Emotionally complex mess
We massage and manipulate
Into best case scenarios
For worst case days

It's just a way of turning walls
And adjusting the hue
Of the lights
Carelessly strewn
And
Carefully aloof
As the motions of the day
Ride the chaos
Of the waves

We shake the dust
Off of the rust
And shove the debris
Into shadows unseen

We create three act plays
Artfully compacted
Into short scenes
With music
That doesn't just ease out
It bleeds in
And the transition is sharp
And the words can
Sometimes be dull
But very little
Can say it all

We're an envelope
We're scattered all over
A dusty
And well-worn
Wood floor
As the cavernous laughter
Rages like a storm

It is a seasonal drift
Of scattered sunlight
And drifting shadows
Mysterious like
Moonlight reflected
Along the silent surface
Of a still stream

As Dust Falls

By, Sean Frank

The rooms rest
Like a painting hung
As dust falls
Without falling
It's almost as if
A surreal stillness
Settled
Without settling in

The morning sun
Pierces with
A calming fierceness
As the coffee brews
And it's scent
Renews
The resident radiance

Tired minds
Will wake up in time
And heavy hearts
Will find a new
Path to carve
As their rythem
Changes and rearranges
A beat that started
To drag them down

We all wear and wear out
Our garish and cherished
Crowns
But we see each other
Sometimes
And the glimmer
Of daylights natural shimmer
Can give the day
A new glaze
That enriches
And sustains

The Drive

By, Sean Frank

I can close my eyes
And remember the drive
Leaving my childhood home
Just a few months
Before it was sold

I can close my eyes
And remember the drive
Leaving work
After a 18 hour day
Drained
Delirious
And sore
But surrendered
To a calming fade

I can close my eyes
And remember the drive
To a long vacation
Ready for a break
Ready for a warm breeze
To relinquish me
From the grind
Of daily routine

I can close my eyes
And remember the drive
Leaving a memorial service
My heart heavy
As the sun hits the glass
It seems to reflect
Scatter and burst apart
Just as fast
And I feel like nothing
Is clear
Because everything feels different
And it's not just another day
It’s a moment in time
It's a monument scribed
By memories rich
With fresh laugher
And well-worn
Smile lines

I can close my eyes
And remember the drive
Home after a first date
We talked for hours
Over coffee and lunch
And I feel a buzz
Of excitement
Because
When I saw her
I felt a reassuring ease
I knew
In a slow motion
Enveloping instant
She would give meaning
To a life I let become listless

Something Else to Hold

By, Sean Frank

The party died
But everyone survived
To tell the tale
There were epic
Victories proclaimed
Of troubled minds
Finding a firm grasp
On the little things

The days that get away
Before they even start
The worries that worm their way
Into overcrowded brains
We become so breathlessly
Frazzled
And brazenly lost
As listless as the wind
We forget to look ahead

Instead we find solace
In the old places
So without fail
The past becomes
A foolish guide
Whom we probably
Should second guess

The second the drinks started
Flowing
Burdened minds
Shook off the pressure
And released reassurances
That were less than
The sum of their parts
But brevity can
Ease and give sweet release
To a heavy heart

Heart to hearts
Were had
As old friends
Realized their connection
Was left half faded
In a sepia toned past
And when they laughed
The lights glowed
With a strange hue
As if the bulbs knew
To give the moment
It's due

Friendships were made
And they may have been
Just for the night
And nothing else
But that's a beautiful thing
Because we are all strangers
Struggling to find our way
On the same crossroads
Crossing paths
Into the same heavy wave
Of cascading unknowns

The clock kept rolling on
But at a certain moment
At a certain hour
Everyone had a drink
In hand
But everyone found something else
To hold

Just Maybe

By, Sean Frank

The sirens sing a lamentation
Of years where we brought ourselves
To a hellfire
Of calcified hesitation

And maybe someone else
Is singing the same song
And maybe someone else
Is feeling the same sense
Of longing

Maybe we have the world
Perfectly worked out
But maybe
Just maybe
The best laid plans
Are the plans
We never considered
Because the bitter pill is
We remember the moments
That didn't seem like
They would ever be
Worth caring about

So let's push
Into the peripheral
Edges of our mental maps
And locate the monuments
Before time witnesses
Their moment of collapse

Some things can be a struggle
To capture
After all
We live inside the shutter
Of a camera ever unfocused
As a result
Our blurred perception
Is forever in correction
As we self-medicate
While we wait for the effects
To elevate
Feet planted
Firmly on the ground

And we can rise
And we can certainly
Fall
But most of all
We ride the waves
And let the wind
Carry us away
We have lived for tomorrow
But sometimes we
Let the pressure of time
Ease into the distance
As the day becomes a beacon
And we shine inside of it

Ever Spinning

By, Sean Frank

The water moves in certain
Directions
Life moves forward
No matter what way
Your facing

This life is a causeway
The sky is recklessly
Ridden with careless stars
We act like they reflect upon us
Like the distance their light travels
Equals the distance
Between our scattered
And perfectly singular days
Dispersed between
Countless crashing years

And a crash is how
Passing years
Can feel
As if the pressure
Of repeating
False premonitions
Can predate repetitive
False proclamations
Of victories achieved
And dreams under siege
What the hell do we ever say
And what in the hell
Do we ever mean

We mean the universe
And sometimes more
The expanse is ever occurring
Like a warm summer night
Lying in a unfamiliar bed
Moonlight sneaking through
The blinds
And a small metal fan
On its last gasp
But none the less
Ever spinning
Ever giving
Of everything it has

Resonance

By, Sean Frank

Music mends my heart
While it breaks my heart
As I relive memories fractured
And manufactured
With a faded gloss

When I look to the past
Music fills in the gaps
What with Its aching lyrics
And revitalizing rhythm
Always so new
Always so lived in

Music helps me
Remember delicate truths
That seemed so permanent
In the moment
But fade as we grow older

But funny enough
As the years pass
Their resonance grows
Into a warmly familiar tone
One that is eternally echoed
And a enduring part
Of the soundtrack

Music is sometimes all there is
When everything seems
To be slipping away
Just need to put on those headphones
Play that sentimental song
And remember that
I know what it's like for everything
To be all right
If I know what it's like
For everything to be all wrong

There is balance in the chaos
Because throughout it all
The slumps, rises
And countless falls
Music is the campfire
Crackling and unravelling
The nerves
Nothing else can calm
Music has and will
Always be there
All along

The Faded Days

By, Sean Frank

The faded days
Lived in a sun soaked haze
Have a way of becoming ingrained
In our headspace
Ordained as a convenient shade
Always ready when we're
Just minding our own business
And some bullshit
Wants to wash
Our peace of mind away

The faded days
Lived in a sun soaked haze
Are the places where
We are ourselves
And shelve the worries
That warrant wayward stress
As we realize it's malice intent

The faded days
Lived in a sun soaked haze
Seem to be remembered
As a cascade
Music gently falling
Down from the clouds
As drinks hit the table
And conversation
Circles gently around

The faded days
Lived in a sun soaked haze
Are barely remembered
But these thread bare memories
Are so damn vivid and pop
With a spark that can restart
A faltering heart
And rekindle a dimly lit soul

These faded days
Are just fragments
And pieces
But they somehow
Some way
Without a single doubt
Keep us true
Keep us honest
And keep us whole