The dam of tears
has more leaks
than the child has fingers
He knows that if the dam breaks
there will be no surviving it
Another casualty
in the land of Nod

Wise man say
that a valiant effort
can never be anything less
than a righteous failure

He does love God
But, he fears the devil
May all that he speaks
be on the level
His head has been wrought
with these lustful thoughts
It turns on the street
as if on a swivel
One stray from the path
could incur God’s wrath
and he’d forever be
in league with evil

Leaning in a dimly lit doorway
he raises the bottle to his lips
Gulping down the last of that cheap wine he contemplates the world
He decides that all have been born
into an intensity of need
It’s edge so sharp
that to escape from it
is to feel a sweet relief
It seems that nothing or no one
can dull it’s blade
This why the bottle
has become his friend
It keeps him company
in those dark places
where he hides
from the lathe

Valiant are those souls
who are willing to brave
the treacherous waters
of traumatic pasts
They sail with a wind of conviction tempered with caution
Worthy of an ancient mariner
it is an adventurous,
perilous voyage
yet full of hope that one day
their stormy sea will set them free

Though bad times
can crawl like a tortoise
and good times
race like a hare
Indifference will always
run last in a race
when there’s no motive
or reason to care

There has been no worse an indicator of marital bliss than
an abundance of money
and yet no greater a predictor of
marital discord than the lack of it