I love him
I tell myself
I know that
We will be together forever
I don’t believe that
We could be separated
My thoughts tell me that
He’s the love of my life
Sometimes my heart lies and says
I could live an eternity
Without him
Like my friends say
“We’re perfect for each other”
And you can’t tell me
He’s not the one.

Now read from bottom to top.

Simplicity is the best dish:

Easy to prepare and mimic, over and over again. You could make it ten-thousand times and it'll still feed you.

It'll keep you full on those nights when the only thing keeping you warm are thoughts of success; of drowning in cash flows. New clothes and a home right in the middle of a city.

You're too old for that.

Oh, no, you see your friends choking on fine cigars and driving cars that they can barely afford, with kids pushing at their knees.

There's soil under your fingernails, and you can't cook with filthy hands.

So you think. You pray.

Ruminate for years until you decide that it's alright.

Live quick and harsh and ***** because food tastes good and she does, too.

While satellites come close and leave,
whole moons and the swirling dust
of reflective obeyers,
it arrives from distance.

Running a course through weight
from a pencil-thin horizon brow,
it might have streaked across darkness.
With the dead shines behind,
washed clean in a trail of wild flame and
then fallen, bolide broken into cascade.

Or rising to collide,
only skim the surface.
Ruffle the sheets of land,
wrinkle fertile leas and parched sands.

No, to strike full and shudder
the core and extinguish
light and life.
With unswerving smite.

From underestimated range
and unmeasured haste,
a peacock tail drags far behind.
Each one diamond dolefully eyed.

Is this eccentric orbit
the only the path seen?
Fastened to your celestial belt
and looped in an endless trajectory.

She hits the bottle
like she’s playing blackjack
Always wanting more
And inevitably losing it all

She stands in the remains
Of the destruction she’s caused
Filled with regret
Finding salvation
At the bottom of a glass

Coming home jubilant
To speak of all her successes
And all I hear is a buzz
The slurs in her speech
And lose sight of all else

Hearing loosely threaded stories
From that point on
Trying to find the holes
Where the honesty shines through
Knowing she’s far too happy
To be telling the truth

Filled with self loathing
Reeking of liquid courage
Losing her grip on what lies
She’s told before

She loops
And falters
At which point
I close my ears and walk away
Not wishing to waste my time
On tall tales and a tossup
No matter which side the coin lands
I’ve lost myself
In this battle with your illness