it was reported lightly.
sympathetic,
doe-eyed fawning.

this was the shit
you couldn’t stand

mortality
was not
news you expected.
you had to mask your
indifference with
a furrowed brow;
“I know”
“I just heard… jeez”

truth be told,
life left months ago
when you sucked
those bones dry

you reckon

of course
he offered them up
like barbeque.
you gave at an early age,
now you take

because they’re stupid,
and you are owed.

this unquenched debt

© Tom Watters 4/9/08

in times of color,
I call upon a resource
always there, but simple
seemingly hidden,
right there in full view

peace remains
in the decay of the unwilling
calmly waiting its turn,
never mocking the experiments
of her wayward sons

there are blooms
amidst the trash,
birth, from the foulest of ideas
waiting for chrysalis
ready to take the most jaded breath
from breasts of heartlessness.

I will, I will!
want not–can not
free my blood from the last
gasp and cell-level light.

faith is in love…
in love with the dark,
as well as the well-lit.

4/4/08