Written April 27th 2009
Thirty-three years ago I had no name, no dreams
no emotion — they say I was just a ten pound bundle of joy
pushing my way out of a sixteen year old womb.
It is safe to say I don’t remember
but the sting from being smacked on my naked little ass
woke the world up to my first cry.
I told the world I was alive
and thirty-three years later I give the world my thoughts
as I sit here in this bar
at quarter past five.
It’s amazing how life changes as we grow;
almost as amazing as our mind suffocates for exposure
after just two sips of Hennessey and coke.
When I was born it was just thirty -three years since
America’s Bicentennial – a year when gas cost 59 cents per gallon
and the average rent was two hundred and twenty dollars
Imagine that.
New York City was introduced and terrorized
by the “son of sam” and some genius decided we needed
a two dollar bill. Jack Nicholson was the one who flew over
the cuckoo’s nest
as Sylvester Stallone became the Eye of The Tiger.
Robert DeNiro was one scary dude in the movie “Taxi Driver”
and Disco took over the radio.
Imagine that.
Thirty-three years of thinking but not knowing; thirty-three
years of reflection and wondering who the hell
I’m supposed to be while discovering who I’m not
supposed to be. Thirty-three years of finding my place
in this world of many destinations while
challenging myself to create a path many
will strive to travel.
I guess what I’m hoping for is just to be known
years from now when someone just like me looks back
and dissects the celebration of his own thoughts;
I hope to be that memory or that moment (perhaps even both)
that changes and creates a movement
that will evolve through the next thirty-three years
and as I continue to sit here and reflect, think
and dissect I toast back to that moment in April –
the year 1976 when at 3:53 A.M. a child was born.
He was nameless and without words but filled with expression;
He was born hungry to make a difference
and raised though many tears to be a difference;
to maintain aggression and to stand tall
with influence and I toast to now
thirty-three years of finding my meaning.
© 2009
Tarringo T. Vaughan
Revised 2012
