Like the ache
of stubbing a toe,
a metaphor we used
just the other night;

First comes
a gasp, a muttered curse,
Then the pain advances
Inexorably.

I got a little two-man family
I guess it's hard to see
But wherever it is you need me to go
That's the place I'll be.

I never quite expected I'd
be happy here with you
But I take care of you, and you of me
It's silly but it's true.

So settle down beside me,
we don't have much to do.
I'll do whatever pleases me,
Just do whatever pleases you.

There's no a moment I could ask for
Prettier than this,
Without a doubt, no pain or guilt
Just a house, and us within.

They whirl me, twist and turn, these memories.
I'm in a twirlwind down on Middle Country again,
The El-Eye-Ee and the twenty-four-seven Diner where you and I and those others stayed up that time
and I drank way too much coffee, again.

And those old friends are like old dolls,
The ones that brought me glee at five,
That I treasured at ten,
Than I forgot at fifteen,
And discarded at twenty
(Packed out, Tossed in, Donated up).

Carol, what happened to those times Mom sewed that ear
Because I loved you so much you broke, over and over? (Now it's all a metaphor
For the rough love I seek
And the patchwork sewing job
I've done on myself)

There's a pit in this stomach,
Where none of it resolves,
Where I'm missing that bile
That takes these scraps and churns them into
new cells and old waste.

Eventually they just gather
on my ass and thighs,
These memories,
Weighing me down.

Strongly-worded’s how I slept;
No drowning sorrows,
     lost regrets
     or sentiments.
I just went away with
Another Wandering Story
then crept back on
knuckles and knees,
prodigal son
     to the morning.

I can’t write them all.
I still don’t know
whose words these are,
but I tell you,
she’s a twisted One.

I’ve slid down waterslides
with bleached old grinning
Jack kissin' me goodbye.
I’ve spotted wooded valleys
dotted with torchlight
where somehow
     I know
My name’s being spoken
though not the one I’m familiar with.
I’ve seen the world explode
     Seen Death
time and line again.
I’ve given birth,
     run away,
And never turned back.

I fall back awake and
Honestly
all I want to know
is the question I’m
     supposed to be asking
To make sense of the crashing waves?

All I want is sunrise
to swoop in with
     Daylight's melody
to serve up some perspective,
and a Moon to keep the rhythm
     with her steadily beating
     indelible natural percussion.