The Drummer Drums

The drummer drums in the distance, pounding out a beat. A rhythm to move to, a rhythm to march to. And the armies converge. Forces unite. To the sound of that solitary drum they spring into swift action and unify together against the forces of the night. The battle is raging, but the drum beats on. You can feel it rising and you know the sun is looming just below the horizon.

Sometimes you loose sight. You can’t hear the drum and you don’t know where to turn. You forget what you were marching for, you fall out of line, and you can’t see the forest for the trees.

Sometimes I just don’t understand. I yearn to have it all figured out, but it just doesn’t work that way. Three hundred miles and the distance of eternity separate us–yet we are one and the same. I see myself in you. At least I think I do. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what change took place. Maybe I’m just trying to glorify a sad tale, dramatize everyday life and make this something of poetry, something more than it is. But there has to be more than what appears. Can anyone be so lost? So aimless? That is what I least want to become. Don’t you hear the drum? When did you lose your sense of rhythm? When did you fall out of line? No matter, you can pick up again. You can see again. You can be again. Why, oh why don’t you see that life is more than miles and power, money and security. Let it all go. It’s worthless. Can the student correct the master? Or is it too late? Did any instruction occur in the first place? The pain and hollowness I feel inside tears me up. It breaks me down. The tears well up in my eyes and I cry out for answers. But the night always echoes back in silence. Always the silence. You have to learn to accept things. But it doesn’t mean I can’t change things. Or at least try. Perhaps some day I can understand the hidden pain behind your glassy stare, the false security that drives you, and the stunted value you place in this world. Perhaps someday.

Until that day I can only pray. Pray that the drum would beat louder and echo in your ears. Pray that the scales would fall off and you would see. Pray that some day you would answer with your last dying breath and we would finally see eye to eye.

Do you hear the beat? It’s growing louder. It’s coming. Are you ready?

Need to Remember

Tired and weary and shaken and trembling. The responsibilities wear you down and take their toll. You lose sight of the goal, you forget what you were working for. Why am I doing this? What’s the point? Sometimes we need a reminder. We need to see that child’s face again and know the impact we’re having on his life. We need to see the faces light up and the people understand. We need to remember that God is opening up hearts, and we need to work that much harder.

The End of My Street Performing Career

With one final flick of the wrist, with one last song, with one last walk, and with one last train ride my days as a street performer ended. For this summer anyway. The next coming weeks will bring chaos, as I move out of one dwelling and never really settle into another one until school starts. I’ll also be crisscrossing the nation, from Chicago to Detroit to Green Bay to Kansas—and back again, before finally settling in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Continue reading The End of My Street Performing Career