A Simple Life

At last, a simple change:
a simple life, a sweet exchange
for the cruel and bitter years
that flowed unceasingly as river tears;
a choice to let the worries die
beneath the dirt where burdens lie,
and choose to go my simple way
through darkest night and brightest day;
unshackled from the common mind
to live uncommonly in time
like birds that build their nest in clocks
and somehow make the ticking stop;
a breath of life within my wings
that fills my lungs with songs to sing,
and flying high in thinnest air
without a trace, without a care,
my eyes can see the ground with ease,
yet up I go wherever I please —
the loneliness is different here,
a loneliness unchained from fear,
my closest friends these tireless wings
that dip and drink in heavenly springs;
my greatest foe the storms that rage
and seek to break my wings with age,
yet one more breath to fill these lungs
and off I go where songs are sung
(above the peaks of mountain snow);
where constellations rearrange,
for a simple life needs a simple change.