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.
