I fell

While running

Down hill

Gravity watched

Over there

And over there

Were people

Perhaps one girl saw

I’m not sure

It did hurt

I was hurt

I made my self stand

And looked at my

Hands and knees

Impressive and bloody

A million scrapes

But the sharp pain

Surprised me

I took myself

To mend

And told no one

Yet one by one

They came to see

Even my brother

How did they know

Unless

People merely pretend

Not to notice

You are uneasy

With or without me

Hand that baby a ring

The news is breaking

It’s quite simply

Revelatory

Sing. Sing.

You are uneasy

With or without me.

You are hog-tied

With or without me

With your very own strapping

It’s got little to do with me

Lift me right out.

You’ll be who you’ll be.

Sing. Sing.

You are hog-tied

With or without me.

You are peaceless

With or without me

I’ve never held those keys

You are still the one at the door

Still completely

Still exactly

Sing. Sing.

You are peaceless

With or without me

If I knew then

The full amount of decay

And consequence

That my sin

Would heap on me

I’d like to think

That I would have

Behaved differently

But oh that drink

Had a lot to say

And thrill was such

A sweet neighbor for me

And hiding

Proving that

You should have

Had an eye on me

Was the most addictive

Every night

Bed-time snack

Was the most satisfying

Every day

Cup of glee

That a risk-taker like me

Could ever ask for

So, who’s to say

My rulers were so many

My kings so so small

In truth

I’d probably make

all the same mistakes

All over again

But hear this

I see things

Clearer now

Things catch my eye

Sure they do

Same as all with skin

And I flutter

Get stuck

Skip and true

I’m temped to dwell

That itch though

Like nails on slate

In the most secure way

Coax me between

The harsh reality

And the hope

And I withdraw my hand

An eagle flies high

And has me

Nether the wing

It is good to look back

Say, eleven years

To see how far you’ve come

How far still left to go

To say, “Eleven years ago…

I had too much drive”

For example

“I ran people over.”

And then to see that,

“God helped me there”

“I’m much better now”

It’s just a good way of

Checking your steady

Against His

And even though

He always wins

It’s good to go back

Those eleven years

It’s good

So good

And humbling

To measure yourself

Against tidal waves

I had seen it all at Farallones

Painted wallpaper tree

Strip by strip so brilliant

With goldenrod and brightest green

What a lucky thing

To see with such ease

What you’ve never seen

And to hold a real delight

In your hand, there’s nature

A whole other world away

And that’s what’s rising up now

Straight man is dying

And I only miss the idea

In truth I’m a bad mourner

Knowing that I should

But really just wanting to rest

And perhaps that is why

I’m starting a season of stay

God is being mindful of me

And what glee

To be a new thing

Newly newly seen

Keep giving a thousand goose eggs.

I’m praying you inflict, Truth Teller

On me. On me. On me.

I wanna For Sale sign in this yard.

And next then, bigger property

Crack my pavement in two

Yes. Let it drop clean off. Clean off.

So that that way ain’t that way no more

Put thick heavy rust on those hinges

So the glory door don’t ever close

Let me wake tomorrow with no inclination

To revisit the water ways of wicked wars.

Keep me new-hearted and recreating.

Let not even a tear glimmer or mourn

For I’ve a hope. I’ve a hope.

I did not soldier on

Is it so

Was that an x

Cause I’d understand

Either way

I wanna be doing

This right

And easy

Can be

The enemy

If it is

But is it

Is it

I suppose

Necessarily so

That there must be

Labor

and labor

and labor

Is it then

Contrition

A moment

Or a

Low Moan

Long and slow

I don’t know

The way

Restward

Until I met a slumlord

I only knew it was bad

But no meat to the bones

No real real knowing

No knowledges of roaches

And no understanding

Of a house full of nothing working

And the scheme

And the blacklisting

And the hopeless cycle

And generational trap

I met one. A true evil.

What a vile person

With employees and tenants

Who are stuck

Like prisoners of war

Loyalists from the old regime

What bravery

To stand up to the slumlord

As little bitty kids

I had no idea

Rub my leg

It’s what I enjoy

Is that so strange?

My likes can change

I am not bound to enjoy today

What I enjoyed yesterday

Just because that river

Is right outside my house

Doesn’t mean

That I can’t nurture

A desire for the Forrest

And to be frank

I’m excited

I’m giddy to see

That monkey slide down

And even though

It’s still clutching my ankles

I see it giving up

I see it letting go

I see a day

When I prefer

Building houses

To racing cars

And racing cars

To writing poems

And writing poems

To rubbing my leg