You may tremble and you may tumble down the highway through your time.May you level and stay humble, chasing dreams and never dimes.

May your spirit rain and leave its trace on every turn. And know that a mistake is but another lesson earned.

Let the river take you and let your mind at ease.Revel, revel, revel in every moment that you seize.

May your path be appreciated and the one containing heart. And keep jealousy and your legacy lifetimes apart.

I slept very little and thought very long.

I thought while I rode and wrote what I thought.

I gave what I could to the tip jar.

I ate a steak without wearing my shoes.

I read Carlos Castaneda and dreamed of the desert.

I talked to a man with a mustache.

I drank 7 cups of coffee.

I felt sick to my stomach for 3/4 of the trip.

I watched the sunset, the sunrise, and the in between.

My eyes followed a hawk for almost fifteen minutes.

I listened to “Clay Pigeons” six times.

I listened to “Nebraska” twice as much.

I lost my ticket stub.

I wrote one sentence every hour of the trip.

These are them.

what it was is all that it is/become becomes became
like catching eyes and ripples on rivers
brief is the encounter/eternal is the effect
beauty will brand your brain and forge the fork
create a contrast/give you a gauge/make one measure
will the river remember the ripple before it retreats?
did she forget my face as fast as i recall hers?
neither needs an answer/i shouldn’t have even asked

it was a glimpse
a sniff
a sliver

and now i’m
staring
snorting
and hoarding

what it was is all that it is/become becomes became

dripping springs, texas

gateway to the hills and troughs/home of the lonesome wrangler/bride to the widowed farmer/brother to the moaning bell/host of the underwater tea party/feed of the hungry hunter/breath from the deceased/range of the sniper’s scope/ride for the ramblers/bread of the land/sea shells for the tourists/birthplace of simple/food chain of the lion/inventor of decompression/bunkhouse for rebels/safe house for saints/first of the virgins/last to know/green in the garden/sand on the bed sheet/heart of the beat/creator of alone time/purpose of the people/lake trout of the ocean/key to the settlers/reason for fists/buckle on the belt/stitch in the sew/light for the blind/journey for the gypsy/destination for locals/choice of tradition/purity of poison/song with a secret/lock to the hassle/hang out for hiders/blood of the cattleman/strap for the remington/weapon of must/glue on the china/crack in the windshield/window to the plains/muscle of the mule/ship full of daggers/rhyme of the rhythm/colors under the trench/breasts on the pigeon/attack of the easy/battle for it.

this is a how i feel about dripping springs, texas

i have never been there