Top Brass

What a long time it has been
Since I last sported that familiar grin.
Slide's glide, bell supreme,
I don't need to confide, it's always been my dream,
For to blow air through is divine
Because it creates that sonorous line.
Five long years, way too long,
Five big ones full of tears, proving, "Oh God, how I was wrong."

"Mouthpiece out, horn up, ol' boy!
Stand proud, stout, but do not toy,
For now you need discipline in your life
To quell the vicious cycle, all the inner strife."

I should've listened to the top brass,
For I could've been making paper greener than grass.
I couldn't agree more with myself,
For I'm still in limbo, still searching for that wealth.
Have I waiting too long? Am I too late?
Some say I can still be great.
It'll take some work, that I know,
But I didn't listen to the top brass all those years ago,
And Lord, how I did lose what I didn't use.