My friend was born on leap day

They added a whole day to the year

Just for him to get born

If he was never born

The earth would come spinning

Around the sun a quarter too far

And slowly every year

The seasons would drift

Until it’s snowing in august

And that would drive me crazy

If he was never born

The calendar would be wrong

Like every 100 years

You’d feel somethings missing

And not know why

But the world is a good place

So they thought ahead

And they grew the shortest month

Stretched it out

Just long enough to catch him

From where he floated

Through the ether

And bring him down to earth

Time works different for him

The years pass by

But he just doesn’t wear them

He’s as young now

As he was three, four years ago

He’s older and younger than me

And that doesn’t seem strange

He makes sense how he is

When he got born

Doctor told his mom

He’s big for his size

And put a frog hat on him

Then he jumped around

In the baby room they put babys in

The one in the hospital

And that’s how they made frog day

Which was later renamed

To leap day

Because it turns out

There was another frog day

On March 20th

So they had to change it

The windshield wipers

Of a brand new

Broken down car

Screech across my smiling eyes

And wipe the tears away

I sit down on the curb

Of a road I’ve been down before

Now feels like

The only road i ever drove

All the way down

Making a u turn at the light

And all the way back up

Many many times

The keystone of the arch

Has people inside

It holds the whole thing together

They built it from the bottom up

Then they wedged it in

Pinched between two falling towers

Held tightly in its home

You can ride up

And peek through the slot window

Over this side is the city

Over that one is the river

Here you stand pinched

Gateway to the west

There are lots of places

For a person to live

Many cities and towns

Probably a billion of em

I love these places

The places people built

By people for people

Doing all our people things

Together

Yeah there are lots of cities

And i love them

But there’s only one

That loves me back

A soldier without a war

Is just a scary kind of guy

Born too late too early

To get sucked into

Some major conflict

That he really believes in

Too cynical to hand himself over

To the guys fighting just to fight

Killing time before

The next big war

If you gave this soldier a cause

He would be dangerous

He would hold up his weapon

Point it at the enemy

And feel just in it

He would obey orders

He would know

What he is being told to do

Is what needs to be done

He would have faith

That he was using his evil

To bring good to the world

But a soldier without a war

A real war

A good war

It’s just a guy

Looking for a reason

To start being violent

That’s not safe for anyone

We don’t need that here

This is a time of peace

That’s what we’re calling it

Peace for the deserving

Nobody’s fighting the war

That ought to be fought

Fighting for the soldiers cause

The army’s always hiring

But it’s the wrong army

So soldier boy

Clenched fist

He just gets angry

And tries to be kind

There will be no parade

No medal of honor

But this is a war worth fighting

A cause worth dying for

Kindness from anger

Soldier boy tell them

Watch me crank it

Watch me roll

Watch me crank that

Soldier boy

Don’t touch me

I’m hot right now

Burning hot

Smokin

Yeoowch!

Burn your damn hand

I’m hot right now

I’m cooking

I’m steaming

I’m roasting

I’m toasting

I’m smooth with it

I’m warm with it

Hot like fire

Hot like lava

Hot like hot dog

I’m the hottest dog here

Woof I’m hot

I’m sweatin

I’m baked fried broiled

Hot like dinner

Take a step back

Cuz I’m fucking

Hot right now

I’d make a really good

First part

Of a monster

Before the accident

Before the mutation

Before the horror

I’m the guy who became it

I’ve got a sympathetic story

But you can see

I was always headed here

Spelled out in

Heavy handed foreshadow

All the way back when

Those of you who know

Will look at the monster

And you see it has my eyes

Which blink not recognizing you

And that’s when it gets you

Acting without conscience

It is a monster after all

That’s what it’s for

Scaring you and creeping about

Lurking and lurching

In the wet cold basement

A monster with a sad backstory

It still needs to be killed

And when it’s burning

Melting away in the flames

Before it is all the way gone

You will catch its gaze

And for a moment I’m back

I recognize you

I am redeemed and forgiven

For finally dying

Like a good monster should

Jason Penthouse

The richest kid in school

His daddy owns a company

One of them big ones

That owns other companies

Companies our dads work for

So every dollar of your allowance

Somehow comes from Mr. Penthouse

That’s what Jason says at least

He’s having people to his lake house

Next weekend but I’m not invited

I have homework anyways

Jason has a private tutor

I’m pretty sure she does all his work

Then he signs his name at the top

He got the brand new iPhone

And he doesn’t even use a case

He got the shiny shoes brand new

Like baby would’ve worn

Rich baby penthouse shoes

This summer he’s going to Hawaii

He said he’s gonna ride a jet ski

Jason Penthouse that guy

He’s cool because he’s rich

So much money make him cool

Well i think he’s a jerk

I work out now

I pick stuff up and set it down

I pull it down and put it back up

I run and run and run

I do squats and stuff

And then i almost fall up the stairs

Because i still have to walk home

And my leggies tired

I listen to the music

I listened to when i was 13

I’ve been revisiting my own past

In little snippets

3 minutes at a time

Half of my life ago damn

This music rocks though

It’s great to run to

And i run now

I’m a workout guy now

I forget all the time

It feels good to do this

I’m gone fishing

If you’re looking for me

I’m doing what i call

Challenge Fishing

This is when you

Just throw the hook out

No bait no lure or nothing

Just sharp metal on a line

And every time you cast

You say this’ll be the one

And then gasp and sigh

When you reel in nothing

You can spend all day fishing

And never get a bite

It’s about practicing patience

It’s about learning to let go

The thrill of the hunt

Standing still and doing nothing

After days of this

You will find your peace

A pleasant day by the water

With no threat of violence

Standing and waiting

For something to break the quiet

And it never comes

So you become part of it

And when you pack up and go home

You bring the quiet with you

That’s the challenge

To catch the most elusive fish of all

The fish inside your mind

Had a fun weekend with H and E. I love to have friends in town. I never really had people over when i was living in St Louis because i guess there was always somewhere else to be. Now it is something that I really enjoy. I like to host people and show them around my little world in Chicago. I got some new sheets and pillows for my guest bed (air mattress) and as far as i can tell people have had a good time staying with me. I miss everybody all the time but that’s how it goes when you move away. More and more as the weather gets less cold and bad I am reminded of my certainty that this is a good place for me. I’m making good on a lot of goals I’ve set for myself which makes me feel powerful. Still got a ways to go but i love making progress. I’ve been having a little more success meeting new people up here lately and this month is so full of friends that it’s hard to get lonely. E is coming up this weekend then next week I’m going back to stl for R’s birthday. I had a nice little Valentine’s Day to myself last week. Went to the lake, bought myself some flowers, took a bath, felt good about stuff. It’s been a while since i had a romantic Valentine’s Day, but it’s always been a fun day for me. An occasion to recognize and celebrate love. I’m all about that. Didn’t go play at the open mic last night but i may go this next Sunday who knows. I started playing my electric guitar and I’m working on getting better at that. All in all, things are good right now.

heaven

When i die

And I’m pretty sure i will

One of these days

I wanna go up

In a wisp of smoke

Drift around the sky for a bit

Stretch my spirit legs

After so long crammed inside

A body only so big

For the limitless soul

I’ll skate around the atmosphere

Maybe I’ll leave you a sign

If you see a bird or something

One that reminds you of me

I probably put that there

Then when I’ve had my fun

I’ll float on up to heaven

All the angels will turn

Towards the swinging golden gates

They’ll smile at me and say

Thank God you’re here

There’s so much work to do

And we could use a hand

My dad is like

Two inches tall now

One day he started shrinking

And i didn’t notice

But then every time i saw him

He was smaller and smaller

Wrinkling into himself

Falling deeper into

His own gravity

Like a black hole

He is collapsing

He’s the smallest he’s ever been

And he’s angry

And he doesn’t know why

It makes me so sad

Knowing i could pick him up

Hold him in the palm of my hand

I could try and make him grow

Before he disappears into nothing

But when i reach for him

He puckers his face

Like biting into a lemon

And the pucker continues inwards

I can no longer see his face

Not the face i remember

Clean shaven and smiling

I don’t really remember

What he was like

Before he was small

When he was hiding his smallness

Driving us to baseball games

Teaching us how to be

When he speaks now

He’s always shouting

To be heard through the smallness

He bites at our ankles

Tries to drag us to the ground

Small us all to his level

Bed case scenario

Is just ignore him

Like a mosquito

I hope it’s not in me

This smallness

I hope i don’t go out shrinking

Honking my horn at nothing

Attacking what i can’t understand

I stand straddling

Two short moments

Long separated

By the growth of vines

Hair and nails and wrinkles

Back in the past

A hand brushes my cheek

And i feel the warmth here

Far far far away

Back then i feel the cold

My face pressed against glass

Leeching heat into night air

Everything happens at once

I fall asleep on the train

I lock eyes unblinking

In the pink light of summer

I couldn’t remember the future then

But i could feel it on my shoulders

Where i sit perched now

Looking over me

Unsure which way to turn my smile

If i knew about living forever

I probably would have taken my time

I probably would have died

Face up in the bath tub

Drowning in the air

So good that when i felt the cold

I couldn’t trace its source

To a far approaching train

Galloping through the night

A quiet moment on the caboose

Pushing the mind back

Into a hot room

Full of trepidatious love

Scratching at the inside

Of two copies of this head

Wondering is it better

To be lonely and know it

Or the hidden kind of lonely

You learn about much later

It probably doesn’t matter

If you listen to the same song

It will sound the same way

Almost every time

Mississippi i feel you

Above and below the confluence

At this threshold here

Folding over yourself

Between the golden air

The water flowing black

Deep below a standing figure

Falling without a splash

Mississippi i feel you

In my waking dreams

Flowing the same direction

Smiling and dancing again

This room will be full forever

As soon as you walk back in

Flowing around every corner

Filling up your container

Til it runneth over and over

Go get a bigger cup

Mississippi i feel you

Cold in my hands

A river is mostly water

The rest is fish mud and love

Flowing downhill off the table

For me to catch in my mouth

Way down south at the delta

It tastes like i remember

Drinking from the garden hose

All i see in his eyes is hunger

I see him licking his lips

Like I’m the prize hog

They’ll get me nice and fat

And year after year at the fair

They’ll win the blue ribbon prize

And when times are tough

They’ll carve a sliver of bacon

From my stomach grill it up

They’ll keep taking and taking

Like I’m not a living thing

I’m just a funnel for their greed

Force fed slop til I’m bulging

Can’t hardly move an inch

Then they’ll slaughter me

Strip my bones and feast

This is one of my options

If I’m swine I’m the best swine

The blue ribbon prize hog

I think the biggest problem

Of all the big problems

Is waste

We are a wasteful people

I think something should be used up

Before you get a new one

I always eat my leftovers

I don’t go grocery shopping

Until the fridge is empty

I think clothes should be worn

Until they disintegrate off your body

And that’s happening now

My favorite pair of pants

Is so worn that the crotch is falling out

And i didn’t notice til i got to work

So i got a hole in the butt of my pants

A butt hole in my pants

And I’m embarrassed

Sad to see this is my last wear

Of this pair of pants

But moreso I’m proud

I finished these pants

Ate every last crumb on the plate

The hole is in a place

That can’t really be patched or sewn

It’s unquestionable

These aren’t wearable anymore

And that’s a good feeling

Like my last pair of shoes

When they wore through

I just duct taped them together

Until my mom made me throw them out

I coulda got another couple months

Before those were garbage

They just looked bad

But still i made it work

Having a hole in the butt of your pants

Feels like your doing your part

I’m a hero for this

If you see my butt today

Through the hole in the fabric

Raise your arm and salute

Shucking corn on the porch

Mom leaned over

Picked some from your hair

Then smoothed it back down

You looked up

Big brown eyes

Not a thought behind them

I kicked over the trashcan

Petey came snapped up scraps

We chased after him

You held him by the neck

While i pried his mouth open

Pulled out the garbage

He was mad but he moved on

Laid at the far end of the yard

Sniffing the air

As we went back to shucking corn

The sun not setting yet

But working on it

Henry tried to start the fire

But the sticks were too green

So Mom sent him out for more

He came back

Dragging one big branch

Pulled a saw from the shed

And started wasting time on that

Somebody called me in the kitchen

I took a sip of the cooling air

Let the screendoor slam bounce behind me

In the yellow kitchen i got put to work

I cleared the crayons off the table

Replaced them with plates and forks

Then they cut me loose

To go stand over Henry’s shoulder

Watching him strike the lighter

He was getting closer but it wouldn’t catch

By the time it did they called us in to eat

And it was a good meal

We looked out the window

The sky and the small flame

Dimming at the same rate

After we cleared up and did dishes

The grown ups fixed the fire

And we sat around

Talking and singing and being quiet

Staring up at the stars in the sky

We each saw our own shooting star

On mine i made this wish

I wished i would remember

Shucking corn on the porch

I finally sorted some money stuff out

I got a payment plan for my loans

If I’m smart I’ll be paid off by next summer

I set up my credit card

And filed to get my engineers license

I’m riding my bike again

And i think I’m gonna go to a gym

Once or twice a week

Instead of just working out

In front of the tv at home

I’m doing all this stuff

That feels like it should be important

But I’ve got that hidden itch

That I’m forgetting something

Wasting my time

Makes it hard to sit still

Until I’m petrified

And i need to stuff it down

By sitting unmoving for hours

Happens all the time

Waxing and waning

But i reassure myself

At least I’ve got a plan

And im sticking to it

Gonna go to dollar beer night

With my new old friend Daniel

Next week or so

That’s good

I gotta remember this one thing

Garfield was right about this

Mondays are bad

And they make me feel weird

Gotta remember that

I found a loose wing in the alley

It used to belong to a bird

But that bird is gone now

Save for this untouched wing

The feathers look fine

Up until the exposed bone

I don’t know what happened here

But it must have been sad

I want to scoop it up

But i ought not

I can’t help feeling

Like everything is torn apart

Guilty standing here intact

If i had wings I’d fly

Raise up into the air

And go somewhere

If this wing had a body

It would be a bird

I don’t think it’s my fault

I couldn’t have stopped it

But i wish i could try

I wish there was just

One more bird

Flying in this world

It would make a difference

Computerhead Sam

Sits on the bus all alone

Nobody shares the bench

Cause his damn head so big

On the screen

It says everything he’s thinking

And people feel invasive

When they look him in the face

So they try not to look

And what they’re not looking at

Is him saying

Why won’t they look at me

Why won’t they sit by me

Oh woe is me I’m so lonely

At the end of the day

He plugs in at the outlet

And he wishes he hadn’t done it

At the time it seemed awesome

He thought it just a matter of time

Before everybody swapped their heads

For big computer monitors

But the company that did the procedure

Went under within the year

It’s just Computerhead Sam

And a handful of other guys

Spread out over the country

He can’t fly on a plane

To be around someone similar

Because TSA didn’t make rules for that

They just get confused

And turn him around

So he rides the bus all over

Looking for somewhere to work

But people are put off

By the aforementioned computerhead

Best he can hope for

Is a remote office job

When he does his interviews

He tries to have a sense of humor

He says you can save on expenses

I already got the computer

And they hardly ever laugh

They ask technical questions

About what operating systems

He’s able to run in his head

Then they look at him

And spelled out on the screen

Is something unpleasant

And they tell him

Thanks but no thanks

Better luck next time

What a damn shame

He got rid of his old head

It wasn’t all that bad

He had a nice smile

But there’s no number to call

To get the head back

Who knows what they did with it

That poor poor guy

Computerhead Sam

can’t die

I can’t die

Or i wouldn’t be i

I would be

Something else

The I in I

Stands for

I can’t die

Some people

Are scared of dying

Some people

Are scared of living

I not scared of anything

Because I can’t die

I is alive

So if i were dead

That just wouldn’t be i

That’s something but

It’s not I

I is forever

I stands for infinity

I is so big

That they had to use one letter

Otherwise

We’d be here all day

Explaining about I

How I can’t die

Because I is I

So when i get hurt and injured

I don’t get afraid

No matter what happens

I can’t die

I don’t know why

But I cant die

the way

A woman sits in a chair

She is somewhere

A room probably

She’s folded her hands

Under her legs

Because they have turned bright red

They do this any time

She starts feeling anxious

And from outside the room

Somehow you know it happened

Miles away you’ve got headphones in

And Paul Simon is singing her name

When those aren’t even the words

That’s the tough part

Of loving all the way

A heart is a one way road

It only goes in

So it won’t cross your mind

Until it strikes right through it

You’ve got a good memory

Not photographic

But if they made a camera

That just captured emotion

That’s what you’d have

Filling up your photo album

The smell of the air tonight

Pulls you back to years ago

With some person you almost forgot

Until now you’re back next to them

The weight of them on your arm

The sound of them in your ear

And the feeling in your heart

That somebody wants you tonight

It’s not a bad thing not at all

It just comes in waves

Everyone you ever loved

Churning up the tide

By the time you get old

It’ll probably never stop

One big love tidal wave

To take you all the way

To the far shore

Um what’s up YouTube

This is something that’s been

on my heart for a long time

And you know

All i ever wanted to be in life

Was a super saiyan

You know ever since i was a little kid

I used to always look up to goku

and vegeta

Gohan

I used to just look at them and

Just wonder like

How come I’m just a human being

You know

I’m so worthless

Oh what can i do?

I can run

I can jump

I can flip

And it’s just like

We are so limited as human beings

And i just feel like

When i see superhero’s

You know

Why can’t we be

That exciting

And that

Awesome

Like why can’t i wake up

And if I’m late for school

Just teleport there

And be on time?

But i feel like

You know

During that time of meditation

And just thinking about it

I realized something:

All of that is possible and more

It’s all in here

It’s all in your mind

Think about anything

That you ever tried to do

You thought to yourself

Man, i could never do that

But then when you practiced it

Guess what?

You got better at it

And you actually achieved it

Didn’t you?

It’s the same thing

When you look at

Super powers

Of course it sounds absurd

When you first look at it

But if you try it

You know if you actually

Set your mind to it

And believe

You can achieve it

…

I saw a Chinese man

Set a piece of paper on fire

With just the power of his hands

Now you’re gonna tell me

That that was fake?

No it wasn’t fake!

He channeled that energy

From within

And he believed

And he channeled that energy

Through the creation of his mind

Of what his mind believed

And what he spoke into existence

Of the power that he had

You understand what I’m saying

I feel like anything that

You set your mind to

Your mind can create that force

Because your mind

Is just this powerful machine

Whatever you set it to

And you believe

And you work towards achieving it

You can do it

You can do it

And i believe i can be a super saiyan

=>https://youtu.be/C46kW_1rIO4?si=9ZkmiJ11Dbprkhfr

house

I was cooking

Beans and rice

Always beans and rice

And i decided to burn the house down

I left the stovetop on

I put every blanket in the house

In a pile on the floor

Then i lit every candle

And i put the space heater

Full blast in the living room

I left your curling iron on

Then i started smoking inside

By the time you got home

The fire was going strong

You saw me in there

Burning and smiling

And i waved at you

I hollered don’t worry

I took out an insurance claim

You said that doesn’t work for arson

So i frowned and tried to put it out

You helped me stamp out the ashes

Then you drove me to hospital

After all my skin grew back

You told me you were leaving me

I felt like that was unfair

I said could you wait a week

And think it over

You said you already did

You were planning on leaving

Long before I burned down the house

I really thought my scam would work

All our problems would burn up

And we’d be left rich and homeless

But i guess you’re right

I shouldn’t burn down the house

Even if i meant well

In 1988 a lichen was discovered

Growing on the outside

Of the Russian space station Mir

Somehow thriving in the void

A lichen is a symbiotic lifeform

It is a plant and a fungus

One creature from two organisms

The plant takes in light

The fungi gathers nutrients

And they feed each other

Humans die easily

But we can build things

Like a rocket into space

Like the worlds biggest gun

Point it at a planet

Board the crew

A ship full of lichen

And begin the invasion

Conquer the stars

In the name of Earth-Life

And on this home planet

Full of childless uncles

We know at least we made a mark

There is something like us

Which will survive

On this rock

And the rest of the empire

Even if we die out

Before we learn

How the lichen does it

There has been a disturbance

Rippling through the fabric

Of the psychosphere

If you’re trained you can tell

When you go to sleep

Your brain rides the waves

They always come in sets of three

Waking dreams and dreaming awakes

Reading a dream is hard because

You’re used to reading words

Specific messages

But dream mood messages

Don’t have thought out morals

They are echoes in the wake

Of a big fat feeling

That one of your six senses

Picked up out in the world

I dreamed again of teeth falling out

Twelve teeth in my hand

Gums bleeding full of holes

And i just started a new job

Teaching at a school

But i couldn’t talk

Because i had no teeth

I stole a ticket

Hopped a train

Cooked a big meal

All with teeth in my hand

And this is either about me

Or i caught a wave

From somebody else’s mind

In th psychosphere ocean

When you are alive

You are inside your body

But you are other places too

You are in photographs

You are in memories

In footprints in the sand

In the rut you left in the couch

You’re burned into the hard drive

You’re in other people’s dreams

You’re all over the place

When you die

From getting runned over

By a big sixteen wheeler

Your pancaked body falls hollow

You aren’t in it anymore

You become untethered

All the strands of you in the world

They persist

Some just fade away

Like your body decaying

But in all of the places

The connection was strongest

You become a ghost

A partial image

Visible only to some

You show up in dreams

You show up in memories

You show up in pictures on the wall

And only after all of them fade

A long long long time

That’s when you’re laid to rest

That’s when you stop

jerry

Tale as old as time

A cat chasing a mouse

Expand on this

A dog to chase the cat

A flea to be chased by the mouse

A germ to be chased by the flea

A man to chase the dog

A bigger man to chase the man

Comedic hijinks ensue

Slapstick comedy

Tom and Jerry

Played at the open mic tonight at my favorite bar and it went very well. The bartender kept hyping me up and bought me several drinks after. I got a free drink every night this weekend. My brother and sister in law were in town for some stuff and stayed with me. And every night the bartenders were like, “hey do you want this free shot, i made it just for you” (sometimes this was plural, sometimes just for me). It was a good time. I’ve been feeling. Wintery. Which is what i expected winter in a new city would be like. But the last week or so i have broken through and genuinely enjoyed myself most days of the week. And that is a massive win. I am so proud of myself and still, even now in a sort of lull, so glad that i made the decision to move. I am pushing myself all the time, and all the time i am moving towards where i want to be. Multiple people at the bar tonight told me i killed it and were so nice, and i got to talk to some new people who I’ll probably see again at the next open mic night. The opportunity cost of not being around my bestest friends all the time still weighs on me, but i feel certain at this point that there is no way that i could have avoided making this move without seriously stagnating my own growth. I am so grateful that everyone has taken time to come up and visit, and i hope that this is a debt that i can repay in time. I got to go to bed now, but I’m working from home tomorrow because i am smart. I hope you are well as you read this, and are being patient and kind to yourself. That’s the biggest thing that matters. And get some sleep. Like me right now: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

First i gotta learn to sail

I already know how to steal

How to be rough and ragged

I taught myself to cuss

I wasn’t good at first

But now i cuss all the time

Shit dammit fuck

I already made my pirate flag

It’s so good I’ll show you it

=>PirateFlag.jpeg

If you want to join my crew

You gotta make a pirate name

Like

Salty Briner

Pudd

No-Beard

The Mollusk

Petey

Two-Beard

Oldman

Siren-bait

Chum

Sunscreen

Landlubber

Pickle

Three-Beard

Flapjack from Cartoon Network

Seadog

Foggy

Captain Jack Sparrow

Blue

Wharf

Young Shelldon

Krill Jones

Squidbelly

Doc

Skipper

Flipper

Dipper

Ripper

Nine-Beard

The Face

Mad Dog

Sea Legs

Sea Arms

Sea Hips

Barnacle Bill

Cannonface

The Fly

Sharkfoot

Tsunami Sue

Eel boy

Lobster Legs

Sushi

Guppy

Scaly Jim

Stinky

Low Tide Larry

Scumsucker

Fishkisser

Uncle

Stormtemper Sal

Fifteen-Beard

Waterlungs

Harpoon Joe

Sunburn Sam

Pirate [Your Name]

Gull

Hermann the Merman

Mister Pibb

Dinghy Dan

Plank

Or something like that

Then we set sail for the high seas

We’re gonna get us some treasure

We’re gonna bury it on an island

We’re gonna draw maps

And mark the treasure with an X

We’re gonna send messages in bottles

Chop stuff up with swords

Face down the mighty Kraken

Get awful lonesome out on the seas

Hold each other as we sing our shanties

Drink Grog

Find out what grog is

And drink it

And we won’t get scurvy

Because i packed oranges

Vitamin D

I think that prevents scurvy

If not

Well then that’s a learning experience

The world needs pirates

And i think these be them

It’s back above freezing

Tepid thirty five

So the snow should be melting

And it is except the big pile

On the edge of every parking lot

It’s been snow so long

It forgot how to be water

That’s why it’s so foggy lately

It forgot water goes on the ground

So it’s flying around pretending

Hoping nobody notices

It forgot what water does

I left my damn book at my desk

So no reading tonight

I had fun with my coworkers

Drank three free beers

Reconsidered my planned exit

If only for a brief moment

There is good in all people

And i know this

It’s one of my favorite things

Everyone is easy to love

If you look at them for long enough

But i want to be doing something else

So I’ll still quit when it’s time

Im feeling bad because

I think I’m gonna break the general strike

I forgot to buy toilet paper

And i am fully out

I can’t even tell if people are participating

But i wanted to do something

I wish that i did more

All the time i worry about the world

But i don’t spend much time

Trying to help

Gonna start volunteering locally

Maybe join some kind of organization

I wish it paid to be good and kind

Instead it just pays to make money

And if you want to be good and kind

You gotta find a loophole

Where it makes money too

Or do it someplace else

I’m riding the same train now

Same car same seat

That i was on yesterday home from work

I know because the graffiti

I don’t think that’s happened before

Not so close together

There’s something to that

I wish i had my book

I wanted to read more

By this weekend

My brothers coming to visit

And he already read it

He’s good at reading

Came to it later in life

Now he’s a big time reader

I look up to him

Just as much as i look over

Counting all our differences

Value neutral

I gotta do it my way

That’s the thing I’ve found

If I’m gonna do it

I gotta do it my way

Well here’s my stop

Check back in later

Much love

From me to you

Xoxo

Slept in today

Said I’d get a drink after work

So i didn’t get in early

I got on the 6:30 train

Instead of the 6:00 train

And i read my book

Which I’ve been meaning to do

I get to the end of my chapter

And slam it shut

Pretty girl across the train

Looks over and smiles

Then she does it again

Maybe ten times she does this

And i curl my finger around

The canvas strap of my bag

And i sheepishly return the smile

She just keeps on looking

I ought to make something of it

But this has never happened to me

So i look away

And when we get off at the same stop

We walk in silence

The same direction

Until we split

Disappearing after a few seconds

Into the thick morning fog

I stare wistfully into the lights shining

Through the translucent air

And i wonder what i should’ve done

The goose steps into the melting snow

Leaving a perfect goosefoot imprint

Like me it is feathered and beaked

And like me it remembers summer

The other side of the shining sun

Feet cooling off in the water

When everything is yellow or blue

It can feel almost permanent

Like the air never cooled

Like the snow never melted

Just here waiting for us to catch up

Me and the other geese

Every year on December 1st

This planet is in the same place

Relative to our motherstar Sol

December 1st sits still in that spot

Year after year as we pass through it

And in the summer as June starts

You can feel it out there looming

Across the other side of the sun

Like grief in the back of your mind

It is always always there

In the warmth there is cold

In the dark there is light

Fly north fly south

The snow is melting

And if you step on it with bare feet

You can leave a mark there

A perfect goosefoot impression

Waiting for you

Til you come around again

Said I’d go play

At the open mic tonight

Then i ate and got lazy

Didn’t want to go this week

So what do i do

I flip a coin

A coin has two sides

One side means one thing

The other means the other

Take this out of my hands

Up into the air

Slap down o