Leaves the gate unlocked.
No need to knock.
No need to make a payment
on the hood of her car.
For when the curtain's drawn
walk on in. And there
on the kitchen counter
a cocktail's waiting
for your consumption
on an island coaster
made of bamboo.

From the backroom
She calls over Marley's
No Woman No Cry
come here, baby.
And I do.

And with a teaspoon
of wine on her whisper
she paints
in slow motion
the beauty of the sea

becoming

white ropes rolling
in and out
on the warm
summer shore.

Once my biplane flew
and my pilot light wrote
in white smoke
above the crimson sun
wind was my calling card.

Welcomed everywhere
I left generous tips
and wrinkle free
waitresses poured
my glass full.

In a new bed
every night
and breakfast too.

Some nights
the Moon is ivory
and the sky ebony
like Liberace's
white piano
and some nights
it's blue
as my worn out
work shirt
the sky black
as dirt
I've dug from
the Earth
or maybe
an empty plate
howled at
by a hungry dog
a woman
in a yellow dress
she lifts
wading in the sea
an empty ship
sailing west
its cargo of diamonds
having scattered
far in the wind
but some night soon
it'll be the nightlight
on the wall
across the room
from my dark
shaded window.

You begin at the beginning
Though you may pause
Take a breath
Get married
Go to war
Come back
Alive but broken
Somehow, something
Is always broken
Have a child or three
Find a job
Be someone's token
Mix present and past tense
Make a few enemies
More friends
Mend a few fences
Enjoy the scenery
While you still can
But in the end
There's always an ending
That's just the way it is
Life goes on living
Even without you.

There I was
a few bucks short
of a million.

My girlfriend asked
what to do?

Buy
what you want.
I'll be making more.

She did.
I did.
And I licked her
everyday for hours.

She did everything
and anything to me.
Nothing fake.

Not the diamond.
Not the sex.
Nothing.