The Man is still running up a complicated bar tab
in all those southern towns,
with a two-man police force.

Fifteen hundred guilty optimists in every college battlefield.

That’s something. I guess.
Don’t hassle me with what I should have done,
since the calm pulled the fireworks
into a deep, long and hopefully graceful sleep.

Didn’t see it coming.
Might be my fault on that score.
How on earth was I to know that I was on the fast-track
to destroying a little more than half of what I hold dear?

So much for being smart.
It’s high-time people knew the truth about that.

I’ll be a man of a cloth of some kind.
It’ll be health issues only
that cause me to sweat profusely,
and fall asleep in the middle of a key sentence.

No one is going to spend a large fortune
emanating city lights from their small living room.

So, ask the simple question,
and I’ll give you an easy answer,
about being pretty sure that I can do it on my own.

Getting the obvious back
isn’t just for the youth
that have no idea what they’re in for.

I remember the day I traded in my value.
I was twelve,
and I just couldn’t lie to myself anymore.

Grew up fast,
but not in any formal, useful ways.

The eternal movie theater was just a lot sweeter
to the emotional touch.

Label this information as you see fit.
Some just shake their heads,
and whip empty, razor-sharp collection plates
towards the whites of my bubble wrap eyes.

My steadiest friends only surprise me
when the decade has become decrepit,
and I’m too indisposed to flash the photo
of the shopping list of those things
that I need to keep my faith in.

Even the hand-gestures are probably the same.
But after awhile almost anything can seem new to me.

I’m no longer treating that idea
the way my remorse thinks I ought to be treated.

I’m just happy for any occasion
that allows me to laugh,
until people begin to stare.

They’re welcome to watch,
and they’re welcome to remember me as a face
from whenever they think the easier time might have been.

12/30/2011

Posted on 12/30/2011
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