JOY

Empty

A man with nothing to clench

Sadness

Something tightened with a wrench

Doubt

A ship I built myself

Fear

A beast that feeds upon itself

Anger

With winds that tear an open sail

Bitterness

Something that taints the fairy tale

Lust

What makes little heads think giant thoughts

Hope

Something that turns weaker links into astronauts

Faith

What I needed when I did not believe in you

Courage

The strength to stand naked in front of you

Happiness

Something that lingers long ever after

Promise

The only thing meant for forever

Tenderness

Something that puts me to bed

Comfort

A warm chest to lay my head

Love

So famous it needs no introductions

And last but not least

Joy

With no further interruptions

The Thought Of It

It beats the alternative

They say, I say,

Getting older

First crawling, then running

Sunning then blocking

Days of, “What did

I come in here for?” and

Mornings of “Ow! What the hell was that?”

The thoughts of “it”

Buzzing in my head

Like a fly caught between sills

Will tomorrow be “it”?

Next year?

When will “it” be “it”?

Hopefully amid my day-chasing

I will remind myself

There is still a “right now”

That is, if I remember where I put it

My body is falling

I watch it dropping every day

The lines on my face grow deep and longer,

Up the block and around the corner

The gray, appearing like snow,

And my hair will soon become a blizzard

The Thought of It

First appeared in the

Collection The Fruit of Falling Down

Xlibris, 2003