here i am
living life in an overheated room with a view i like
then walking to starlight on dislocated knees

then i am
hearing sounds i shouldn't hear
laments of a lame drum-beaten man going underestimated
bellowing under rising surface
roaring in his broken sleep

now i am
toasting to all the things i own
from the wife to the smiling cheekbone

last i am
walking my straight line on relocated knees


when you hear this call
everything will be long forgotten

you will watch the sea as it flattens at night
the leap of whales back into distant frozen water

you will pay good attention

when you hear this song
everything will be strange and stale and sullen


but for now


it's easier to live