20 November 2011

and then
               old fat god
made it rain



she was far too willing to accept ‘no’
      as the answer

the smart one
      the littlest one
never gave up a single
      ghost
she loved language   the most

her temper was gone
      by the time the moon
turned blue
      which was about the time
she decided

      ‘it’s true’

and she never told anyone
                                          but you

((((breathe in   deep))))

she was the go-to girl
   for most of the world
             all
freckles   and curls
   don’t know if ya heard 

ya heard

the shadow in the sky
       blocking the sunrise
the one lacking rights
   is the one that’ll die
      if you fight
and clean up
      from last night
just do it   aight

     aight

she always said it best
            she said ‘heart-strong’
   she said ‘head-long’
she said
      ‘c’mon c’mon c’mon’
and moved up front
   with the people

up close
but what does anyone
   really know   about hope
except that maybe
      maybe
maybe it’s best just to leave it alone
leave it
      at home

      so

            empathy

the empathic bleeding love
for every   one
   from a place
full up
      and overflown
moving those blues around until
they get in line with the high notes
   on tenor saxophones
into a light where they can be seen
      and known

and if that really is just the way it goes
      y’ know

sam cooke sang
‘don’t fight it   feel it’

i mean feel it
not just hearing
or wearing the
                     t-shirt

listen norman
      not everything has to hurt

you scrawl it quickly
in the commuter lot
your eyes   your smile
   they’re soft
but your words
   are not
they’re hard
           hot
quick like gun shots so
go on boy
give ‘em what you got
even if you think
it’s not
      quite done
it is something
that’s not used up
   and that

is hope enough

   so
have another one
      order up a shot
and a beer
pretend the citywide
           made it all the way to
         right   here
like it
      learned how
to take the train

            and that is precisely when old fat god
   took the time
      to explain some things

when all we really wanted him to do
      was make it rain





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