SPRING THE GENIE

SPRING THE GENIE

(IN MEMORY OF ROBIN WILLIAMS)

This is not a dry run,

So open up the throttle,

And give the engine lots of gas,

Spring the genie from the bottle.

What little straw you do possess,

Turn into gold of happiness.

Do stand up at the Improv,

Be bold and quit your day job.

Go buy flowers for yourself,

For they are lost upon the dead.

And sprinkle petals liberally

Upon your lover's blessed head.

This is not a dry run,

A time for going through the motions,

Don't stick a toe into the stream,

But hurl yourself into the ocean.

When you fall down, don't ask why,

Or spend the time to cry.

For life goes on without you

And your dreams go hurdling by.

This is not a dry run,

Nor a dress rehearsal,

And at the risk of saying something

Kind of controversial.

The curtain it rises and it falls,

So do not hesitate or stall.

Go on and pull out all the stops,

And give life all you've got.

It's a swift, brief ride from cradle to hearse,

Do not frown or be cast down,

Or things will go from bad to worse.

It's carpe diem, seize the day,

As the Romans used to say.

I do not want to steal their prose,

So let me paraphrase.

Put the pedal to the metal,

Open wide the throttle,

And burn the highway with your tires,

Spring the genie from the bottle.

-Bruce Potts

Revised Copyright 2014

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED