Brake Pad

In a building where the walls are live

and your mother's argument with your aunt

takes up 25% of your entire vision

and it seems like all of your hearing, and

you may wonder kind of hoax is this?!?!

My favorite thing is my fear of death.

It made me the toddler that I was

when someone told me someone died

and they'd never be back, and I learned

what never meant, slowly, over every day

And I guess I travelled a lot in this life

to avoid Mr. Death, or maybe see him,

briefly, at the end of a night, arrived

for some other poor sucker, drunk,

walked into the street, run over dead.

The fear of death keeps us safe

from the jinx of denying it, and

making the underworld angry

enough to kill a ton of us at once

in a tornado or earthquake, bus crash.

I’m not laughing. it's just the avenue

of "I Walk Alone," and how you find it,

how you get there, how you go further.

Blackstar night followed by ocean day,

loud jungle dark, assault of dawn.

Shapeshifter peace, just as they found

oregano in the dna of some Italians,

and photos that were more than photos.

The lion's roar is the jet taking off.

Make believe, then, weightless goodbye.