Someone Once Said (Don't Sweat the Afterlife)

it's not that death is not near
or that there is no pain
it's really that when
there is pain
(because -- holy shit, there is a
fuckload of pain in this world)
there is also a way out

it may be a slow
and seemingly merciless way out
but there is an out
it only happens when you die

the thing is
all the memories
and seasons in between
is a bitter reminder
of the end

an end
we will have forgotten
as soon as it happens

In This Way (I Am Loved)

this good news
unflinchingly aware
of what is
and what is not

and as we have damaged
what is
with our inherent sickness
passed down from the very first
breath, and the very first shit
this good news intervenes

but not in that Billy-Graham-Revival
sort of way
but rather,
in that Raymond-Carver-Backwoods-Suburban-Drunk
sort of way

now i cling to it/Him
like an orphan
drunk and restless
on these city streets
i make way for
the God/Man
to mercifully
tear my life apart
and burn the clay
and build a new man
with fire
and spit

in this way,
i am loved

A Sleepy Death

there is no moment
more uncertain
than that brief minute
when you first wake

your eyes open
the world that was
is not anymore
you're twitching
wandering somewhere between
the real and the unreal

you shape shift
from your supine existence
to something a little more upright
you remove the covers
stand up
and stumble into the bathroom

from now until the next
time you fall asleep
nothing will make sense
or go as you planned
you will be surprised, content
disappointed or devastated

this cycle will repeat
until at last,
you wont wake up
it's this moment
that is the most certain
moment you will ever experience
or not