my life has been a series
of encounters,
each one between me and
the truth that
I discovered much
too young
and,
truthfully,
wish I never had
at all

it is impossible
to escape that ghostly
truth

he is patient
he is smart
he is fast

and

he is right

(but I can still run
from him)

and I do run:

into women
into poetry
into the arts
into new locales
and exciting
venues

I run and hide
and hope

hope that truth will
leave me alone for-
ever

(but we all I know
he can’t do that)

eventually he’ll find me,
walk leisurely up, grab
the paper out of my hand,
look at it, laugh at a story,
and throw it the ground

then he’ll say it:

you’re going to die son

and nothing you ever do
is going to stop it,
and nothing you ever do
is going to last

you know as well as I do

this “life” thing is all a
sham

so come on, come with me,
I promise you the darkness
isn’t as bad as they say it
is

(but somehow I never take
him up on that option)

I always run

I always distract him
(just enough) and then
bolt

it’s all I can do
it’s all I’ll ever be
able to do

my life is just a series
of encounters with that
truth and his solution

trying not to believe him,
trying to defy myself