Leap Day Poems

Surprise! Normally Friday is reserved for creative writing on here, and I have the full intention of posting a little short story tomorrow, but today being an extra day got me feeling extra creative. Last Leap Day was in 2020, and I was in the midst of writing a book of poetry: one poem every day of the year, each inspired by a different song. For February 29th, 2020, the song which inspired me was John Mayer’s “Stop This Train.” I revisited the song, the concept, and the ruminations on having an extra day today. So, I offer you two poems about Leap Day to compare and contrast the growing I’ve done over the last four years. Enjoy!

Today Doesn’t Always Exist

2020

Today doesn’t always exist,
A temporary stop in a ceaseless march.
We write it in to even things out, 
But it doesn’t really accomplish much.

The sand in this hourglass keeps running,
Sliding through my fingers to join its kind. 
We’re never going to stop, can’t take a break,
This train is just going to keep on rolling.

Sooner or later, we all have to get off,
Then we’ll be stuck in between like today is.
Sooner or later, we’ll all be forgotten,
Dying for a second time.

I’m looking out through the fog,
At the crashing of these ocean waves.
They reshape the world as they move,
Slowly, deliberately, ever-changingly.

I’m beyond this all in my head,
Floating outside looking in.
I’m planting my legacy.
It’ll anchor me once I’m untethered.

There’ll be something to hold me here,
After I fall through the cracks.
Today doesn’t always exist.
And one day, neither will I.

Today doesn’t always exist,

A temporary stop in a ceaseless march.

We write it in to even things out,

But it doesn’t really accomplish much.

Leap Day

2024

Today is day that slips through the cracks,
A periodic break in our normal rhythm.
We write it in to even things out,
It helps to measure the changes.

The last time today was on the calendar,
the world didn’t quite have its current shape.
And I spent so much time worrying about tomorrow
That today snuck up on me.

The sand in this hourglass keeps running,
Sliding through my fingers to join its kin,
More years on my face and miles on my soul,
And still no closer to the answers I’m searching for.

I used to lock into the dream of planting a legacy,
Having something to anchor me once I’m untethered,
Praying that there would be something to hold me here,
After I ran out of tomorrows.

No pleading with any pantheon defeats nature,
So focused on trying to mark the world
That I forgot to live a life worth immortalizing.
What good is a legacy if nobody cared to remember me?

Today doesn’t always exist,
Maybe knowing it doesn’t last forever is the point.
There is no way to cheat mortality,
No matter what the poets say.

Leap Days are a precious gift too few in number,
An extra day we wouldn’t have otherwise.
An extra day for love and memories.
We already have too few of those.