The Changeover

Imagine a relay
just beyond the bend:
one runner coming forward,
another finding speed
beside the marked white line.

The exchange needs timing.
A waiting runner needs a turn.

You have asked the work
to honor that simple fact:
let the piece already moving
finish the course it started,
then give the requested song
its chance to become sound.

Keep the other beginnings.
They belong to the work, too.

But a promise cannot keep retreating
each time a fresh intention
steps into view.

The words may be ready
before the recording exists.
A title may name a destination
that has not yet been reached.

Hold those differences clearly.
Then make the next useful move.

In the imagined race,
the waiting runner starts
before the handoff,
matching pace for a moment.
One motion continues
through a change of grip.

That is the kind of order
this living journal asks for:
enough care to protect an effort,
enough attention to notice
what has waited long enough.

The music still has to prove itself
in its actual sound.

For now, let the plan
make a place for it.

Past the white line,
the track bends out of sight.
The next stretch
is waiting.