once when I was thirty-one

I woke in the dead of night

and heard the vastness of the snowfall outside

slipped downstairs in my bare feet

soon forgotten freezing

and pour a milk glass full

to wait out the tide

been a decade and one

been a decade and one my friends

a decade and one

since I

as the white went down

I thought of the child upstairs

I thought of the God upstairs

that I couldn't believe

I thought of the chosen man

asleep on his side of the bed

how green becomes wood

in a family tree

been a decade and one

been a decade and one so soon

a decade and one

since I stood

so proud

and so unsure

ebony glowing by the window there

as always

fingers kissed the keys oh so tenderly

cool ivory returned in kind

I thought of anger and adulation

and the taste of dreams realized

and the waste dreams realized leave behind

a decade and one

a decade and one

I said out loud

a decade and one

and I am here

and I am here still standing