That’s All
what makes the night—
the night
the darkness—
the darkness
is precisely
the absence of light
you can imagine
the dawn
the sunlight
peeking through the forest
but imagining it
doesn’t brighten the path
so you force your eyes open
wide as you can
grope
stumble
and flinch
until morning
The Mystery
whether you jump
into the mystery
or are shoved
you’ll find it
eventually
and then
do you fall
or fly?
depends
on your faith
is there a bottom
or not?
it can’t be falling
when you never
land
No One Can
he comes in
ten minutes late
sits at the desk
beside mine
sighs, and says
“man.... I wish it was 4 already”
I chuckle and nod
then buckle in for the ride
I tap away
break for lunch at noon
breathe a thousand breaths
think a million thoughts
about 3:30 we look at each other
he says “almost over”
I lean back in my chair, “yep”
“almost over”
is supposed to be
a good thing
in this context
yet the lives
are the days
and the hours
and the minutes
I almost ask him
the obvious question
the “where does it go?” thing
but he won’t be able
to answer that
no one can
it’s 4... quittin’ time
I punch the clock
trot out to my car
gotta get ahead
of the pack
A Great Job
She gave me
the standard bravado
about how her job
was the greatest:
“I get to dress up
and do my makeup
and look pretty...”
“Uh huh.” I said
“...plus the money is great
and I set my own hours
and only see the clients I want.”
“Sounds pretty great,” I said.
“maybe I should try it.”
She laughed,
then knelt down
between my legs
and unzipped my fly.
As she worked,
my eye wandered,
and caught the gleam
of a glass pipe
on the nightstand.
My Demons Are Not Night Owls
i never have nightmares
my demons are not night owls
they don’t sneak out at 3 a.m.
to terrorize me
with their shenanigans
they rise before dawn
when i do
no matter how quietly
i slip out of bed
and tiptoe to the bathroom
there they are
perched on my shoulders
staring back at me from the mirror
as i rub creases from my face
they begin whispering
about the time
i’m brushing my teeth
and waltz through my head
all day long
clomp and stomp
of clumsy steps
on the hardwood
by nightfall leaning
against each other
shuffling their feet
like the last couple standing
in a marathon dance contest
they collapse eventually
they’ve gotta sleep
sometime too
maybe that’s the upside
to all this
