How the details add up
03/24 2023
How the details add up;
The broken elbow seams which cough,
The crooked eyes which glimmer in the rain,
The birds which come and go from her shoulder.
Too weary of the world for any hint of disguise,
Not pride, but acceptance among vague streets
And mercury high beams shining on strangers.
Not that time is an issue, time goes on.
Oh, release from periods of nervous verse;
In aluminum hallways after business meetings
Where apes go on about yesterday's money
As you scribble the future with a weary hand.
Small wrinkles on a childlike forehead:
Cold, cold the world appears from looking out,
With her inside drinking water from her tin cup
As words pour like prose from one ear to another.
I pass jewelry stores, and Greek restaurants
Where the waitress winks out of boredom at passersby.
I get there and times are bad, yet life how it finds a way;
In superstars with superhero wives,
In Apollo who waits in line for the bathroom,
Or Hades who discusses politics by the window
As Persephone plans for summer bloom.
I lose one yard for each lie I tell them,
Each story of me turns to wonder
Before reaching the crowd of tender ears.
I spent not few a parted years
In convincing myself I'd never need it again.