Blistering hot the other day
Humid heavy air
I prayed to the heavens
For more pleasant weather
And I thank the Lord
For making it cooler
And more bearable
Praise the Lord
You answered my prayers

Does it matter
How to live
How we die?

The householder
In his bed surrounded
By family, friends

The ****** in the
Gutter all sense of
Self abandoned

The monk bolt
Upright sat
Self-gone mummified

What matter
When matter gone

All flesh decayed
All mind leaked
Away and
Away all spirit
Flown

All dead all beastly

Dead and gone

You’ve got to get in from the start

Girl, love, mortgage, house

The trip has begun

Seat belt on

Forget the plan

The roller coaster will take you up

But not for long

Life's like that

Tells you in the song

Ok, we’re heading down

Is that a frown

Look around

Girl gone

Love

Off with Joe

House

You don’t want to know

No mortgage though

Now, was that a thrill

All the fun of the fair

What, bitter pill

She isn't there

That’s the roller coaster

High and low

No one knows

New woman

Don’t try to explain

Seat belt on

Let me introduce the ghost train.

somehow i've always
thought that albuteral
was kind of orange
or citrus flavored

i did not see
this one coming

and i had the
shakes before
the inhaler now
i have them worse

i happened to look at
the calendar on the
bottom right hand corner
of my desktop

(the same one i clicked my
way through on that
day last february when
i decided i needed an out)

9/25/16

and it hit me
in a wash of
bright lights
and nausea

what today is
now that it's one a.m.

and how i gave myself
until september

september

september

september 25th

i may look
dependably unstable
and i may look
explicitly unpredictable

but if there is one
thing you can be
assured of is that i
do not act without a plan

and i had a
plan for today

(i had a complete
plan
the kind of
plan
one does not
talk about)

i can see it in the
white foldout cd set
in my first ever
parental advisory sticker

the reason i
called off my
carefully constructed
plan

was it
worth it?

AND WAS IT
WORTH IT?

i've listened to it
three times and
i still don't know if
it was worth staying for

today's the day
and i had a plan

and now i'm
scared to death

(and i do mean
scared to death)

because a person can't just
forget so thorough a plan.

The sun shines
Skin becomes light
drawing shoulders
towards the earth
straight
dashing lines
Pull
gracefully
One part down
towards the red
One part up
towards the blue
straightening the neck
Fronts well aligned
with the back
While a lift
of this healthy tension
spans
from the middle
out of the hips
Joints know well
How to turn
and sink the distal
fronting a bliss
that welcomes in
a thrill
towards which I remain sober
as the music
softly fills
this temporary
Summer like air
I listen to that all

the summer goes by fast
always faster than the last
now the sunshine is past

and i will watch the golden fade
watch the darkness come my way
let the clouds roll in to start my day

have you ever watched the sky as it cried?
the trees while they died?
have you?

have you ever watched the leaves as they fall?
tried to catch them at all?
have you?

the greens will all turn to brown
and the blue skies will start to drown
the bright lights will say, "see you around."

the nights are suddenly longer
the days are so much harder
and the winds just keep getting stronger

have you ever watched the sky as it cried?
did you try to wipe it's eyes?
did you?

have you ever watched the leaves as they fall?
under your feet crushed them all?
did you?

and we will call it beautiful
as they fall apart
the raindrops and tear stains
will make a fine art

have you ever stopped to wonder
what it's like
to crumble beneath the pressure
to lose the light?

have you ever wondered what it's like to lose your fight?