no pretension, easy-access,
grace on the corner of the block smoking a patient cigarette.
unaware of anyone else, serenity on the steps
rubbing the neck of another promise,
they wear white
and are white underneath, as innocent as any ******
because they are ignorance, also.

dirt* is only dirt
if you know it is dirt-

silence
is only
silence
if you say it is silent
(and violence
is only violence
if you feel it is violent).

all the cars,
all the cars, each going home in their own little way,
all the cars, all the drivers wondering if anyone else on the road, anywhere, is anything like them, and look around-
where are all the other cars with their windows down?

where is my
human being?
was i not promised one from the start?
oh lonely, oh patient little heart.
have you not another
human being?
where have they all gone?
oh lonely, oh patient little song.
i, too, am a
human being
but sometimes, when it rains,
and when the world is rough
and strange, just one
human being
is nowhere
near enough.

no one knows
and no one ever will
and that's really all there is