a soldier's mother's plea by Daniel Hughes

of all that holds us together, how incredible all humanity since the dawn of time watches this same moon rise and fall? every wondering child, every hopeful youth, every burning lover, every soldier’s mother praying her son comes home, every grandparent made wise through decades of life and joy and sorrow and grief. that same moon, she’s taken our hearts, all of them.

twenty-twenty by Daniel Hughes

a year for excuses left in the dust,
dawns aflame,
deeper growth in slowness than ever was in busyness,
a year for crying, opening to the world,
hearing people for who they are, where they are,
living quieter, living boldly,
for deepest sincerity and discipline,
utter truth.

wild and wise and free by Daniel Hughes

teach us to live with our eyes wide open, to see ourselves,
to see the people set before our eyes.

teach us to see beauty,
teach us to see pain,
to see healing,
to see peace.

teach us patience,
teach us feeling,
teach us sincerity and depth and realness and truth,
to live life from a place in our hearts of
deep love, raw and free,
to overflow in life and open arms
until there’s no longer room for separation,
teach us the deep peace of a life lived in gratitude,
quiet and simple and quiet and beautiful and quiet again,
teach us to chase after truth relentlessly and fearlessly,
teach us to see that truth will stand on its own,
teach us to stand up again and again and again and again and
still yet again,
to see failure is a beautiful thing and not a shameful thing,
teach us courage when our hearts feel small,
teach us to live with our hearts open and loving in
childlike awe of this beautiful world and the beautiful
crafted artistry that is each person’s fragmented heart,
teach us to see the incredible beauty of imperfection,
teach us to dance,
teach us brilliance and spark and spirit and wit,
teach us responsibility for our own lives and love for others’,
teach us to lay down our fears and walk forward in
life in peace and hope and lovingful quieted determination,
teach us joy and livelihood through
— or perhaps even in spite of —
all the lemons life brings us,
teach us to press forward even when we’re tired,
teach us to be gentle with our hearts,
teach us to be tender and bold,
brave and breakable,
wild and wise and free,
teach us fire and life where we’ve left only embers,
teach us to sacrifice and to love and to see they’re the same,
teach us it just never really was all about us after all,
teach us to live with outstretched arms,
teach us to run and to sing,

teach us,

teach us to find life and come home.

a random introduction of random things by Daniel Hughes

1. Cold harsh winter day over any other day. Always, any day, all the time, ever//always​.

(2. Late fall w all the colors (ALL the colors) beneath snowcapped mountains — close second. Maybe a tie, probably not. Not a bad deal at ALL, though.)

3. Life's a pancake, there's always another side & ya damn well better flip it once in a while and hear the other side out​.

4. I have five toes on either foot.​

6. Will be moving to Manhattan shortly, for music-things. Good-things music-things​.

7. Artistically misspelling this nonsensical english language is a VERY GOOD THING in this painfully autocorrected world.​ (firmly believe autocorrect is of the devil)

8. Mozzo(rella), by small example. Best when fresh, bester when fresh on fresh homemade fresh dough fresh tomato fresh basil fresh ovened pizza​ with a heavy-mild dose of brebirousse d’argental to boot.

9. Wind in my face, windy hair in my face, hair in my face, dirt in my toes, rain to soak in, rock beneath my hands to climb— is to be alive, in the truest sense.

10. I skipped #5 and don’t care, I know.