Among Us

what was less then

what was lost

what was found in

in our round table

was mostly future

among the cats and the wine

what we failed was the nurture

we traveled away

from the canvas the studio

we huddled too close

to the answer the obvious

I shed you

I did

for my own self worth

Sacrificed you for me

Still undecided

You touched the bottle

a reprimand to my flight

I understood

too late

too angry to fight

Amsterdam pulled the plug

Amsterdam was the flood

that lifted me over redeeming waters

I was young then and mostly drunk

I was young then

and mostly alone

you tracked how I flew

my singular path

Breakfast in Amsterdam

Breakfast was a drag

And I made a picture

of us in the round

Of us as artists underground

the basement the studio

I have never recovered

your sly criticisms

your tiny canvases of mirth

I am still here

That’s my singular birth

the spell

For Carole with reservations

before I knew it I’m roped
tied to a heart you call dope
until the wheels fall apart
on that nail driven road and
I shatter the mirror that
fails your rear view
before I know it shit happens
hot as the blast from my secret weapon
when the clues break away
from the you meant to stay
under spells I’ve forgiven
who I am to rattle your mission
before you know it’s that rope
tightens years on those lies
hands me a wasteland too heavy to fly
nothing to do but drive on
through a firestorm of redemption
from the me meant to stay
it’s going and coming from under the spell
it’s me with the age of the tarot that tells
it’s me in a crown of the victory wreath
it’s you who’s to grieve
the race never won
nothing gained in those lies
nothing to do now but salute
that road we’ve been on
paved with dying allude
nothing to do but delete and drive on
from you

it’s the miraculous

in the normal, he said

she glanced up from
her reading

what she did before bed

what do you mean

she asked

her question loaded

these small things

between them

often exploded

these small things

between lovers

that came with warnings

it’s the miraculous

in the normal, he said

she turned round

from her stirring

a traveler returned

with small gifts
that unraveled

like a story retold

lentils with cumin

simmered on the stove

they were still human

she kept them fed

it’s the miraculous

in the normal, he said

she glanced up from
her reading

what she did before bed

like the darkness

in prisons she said

like gold in decay

when night becomes

the hard light of day

keep it simple, he said

straight forward

at home or abroad

take time for the tea
wear good shoes for the road

It’s the miraculous

in the normal, he said

gently insistent

she glanced up from 

her reading

what she did before bed

I know what you mean,

she whispered

it lives in my head