He was a guy afraid of not fitting in
His hair was perfect
Smooth skin on his face
Had the current style down
Eyes bright. Still living.
One day he asked me
"Man Ray, how do you do it? You make it look so easy."
"Make what look easy?"
"Everything."
I looked down at my filthy
Brown leather shoes
And there was a hole in my pants
And I needed a haircut a month ago
And my face was battered
Like an airstrike on the moon's soil
I felt my chest still inflating, deflating
But couldn't decide whether it meant
Living or dying
I realized then that I hadn't really
Been afraid of anything
Since I defeated loneliness
Years ago
I smirked at that thought
Then said to him
"**** man, I don't know. I guess I just don't care about much."
He shook his head
And I walked away
With my shoulders high
And my chest out
I felt 10 times my size
They can keep the politics, wars, television, fashion,skin products,shiny cars,cell phones,restaurants,new shoes,false love, dead music
I went home
Opened a beer
Picked up Voltaire
And got away
From all that
Mess