And then you wake up
one morning, feeling free
not uncertain, not timid
anymore, just happy that
you tried and failed
nothing matters anymore
the words don’t sting when
they say you are too involved
it is just a warning after all
one set of folks force loud
cheerfulness on the streets
and inside the Dollar Store
the other draw invisible boundaries
talking about everything that matters,
new landscaping in the
old houses and extension of the
front porches, the menace of squirrels
and deer, to leave you with nothing
the writer tells you in a crowded bar
he doesn’t watch films on insanity anymore
you want him to stop
that's a story you are familiar with
and not from him
the evening is dense with birds
you make your way to the place
where you live; you switch the lights
on and reach out to the melancholy
set it to boil in a kettle and drink it
with tea
you will be home soon
and this day too shall be a memory.
