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