My secrets are the size of
Planets. They smell of diesel
And magnolia, and
They fire at the inside of
My heart with nuclear arrows
The size of a toddler's
Intentions towards a
Crying mother, flowers in tiny
Hand and all.

on belatedly hearing of an old friend's death*

A simple 18-year-old
Pennsylvania kid.

He volunteered
to lead a patrol
down a heavily
mined road.

Gifts were exchanged.

He gave them
half a left leg
and a whole
right foot.

They gave him a
shining silver star
in a beribboned box.

A few moments
of congratulations
before whiskey, drugs
and homelessness ensued.

The hero's life.

Now he is dead,
the medal long pawned.

Life can be merciless
even for the brave.

No part of this story
means anything.

  ~mce

You have taken
the betrayal
of your past,
the hypocrisy
of your present,
your fear
of the future
and built
a circular wall
to exclude
the world;
just enough room
for you and a dog.
Oh, you foray
sometimes
for money, food,
a check up,
but always
you retreat
inside that
solid, safe wall.
I, who have no money,
care little for food
and refuse to be
a check up,
where can I
possibly fit.
Where is there room
for someone who cares.

  ~mce

You were born,
as was I.
You are dying,
as am I.
What happens
in between matters.
Too many spend
their time as
they spend
their money,
straining for more
than food, clothes,
shelter until
they suffocate
under attachment
to the unnecessary
they have made
necessary.
They try to buy
meaning with toys
and feel uncomfortable
at the boredom
they have become.
They want the whole
world zoned commercial
so they can work harder,
buy more and feel better,
but they don't.
It is a hard thing
to admit how much
of our lives
we have spent
being full of ****.
Remember:
You were born,
as was I.
You are dying,
as am I.
What happens
in between matters.
We all stand on
wobbly hinges
that can give way
at any moment.
The question becomes
not about death
but about how to live
before the hinges snap
and the noose
breaks our mortal necks.
No easy answers.
It is hard enough
to have your foot
in one world,
let alone two.
You were born,
as was I.
You are dying,
as am I.
What happens
in between matters.
Instead, meditate
on the nothingness
that was and
the nothingness
that will be
at any second.
Do not **** your life
away on nonsense.
Find your way to make
what is in between
matter. Me?
I think I'll go fishing.

  ~mce

Nothing taunts
a geezer so much
as the life unlived,
so if you are young
and still breathing,
get out and live it.

  ~mce

Find an unused closet.
Open it and in it
place your unlived life.
Close it and lock it.
Walk slowly away
and toss the key
where it can't be found.
Notice where you are.
True comprehension
requires all the senses.
Practice using them.
**** plans and goals.
**** life's petty details.
Be like any other mammal:
try, moment by moment,
to figure out what
you should do next.
There is always
another corner
around the next corner.
Don't think:
just choose and go.

  ~mce