Do you think of life as a walk
or more likely a march toward inevitibility
or more likely a march toward inevitibility
or do you think of it more like
a gradual spending-down of an accrued wealth
a gradual spending-down of an accrued wealth
or as a building-up of dust leading to
a final shutting-down of the entire system
a final shutting-down of the entire system
or even progressive molting until
the body is too big to support the heart
the body is too big to support the heart
pumping away in its little birdcage
waiting to be set free when its owner kicks it
waiting to be set free when its owner kicks it
or is it a blush fading gradually
from the initial source of embarrassment
from the initial source of embarrassment
that is your parents coupling
in strangers’ bedrooms as terrible houseguests
in strangers’ bedrooms as terrible houseguests
or maybe our lives are themselves the
measure
of the lifetime of the universe
of the lifetime of the universe
each birth and death the ba-dump of the
great
heart in the center of the sun
heart in the center of the sun
you can hear it if you listen very
carefully
during non-peak times for radio transmission
during non-peak times for radio transmission
it’s faint and easily lost in the wind of
everything else but it’s there
everything else but it’s there
like birdsong high above the grind of
traffic
in a large city on Monday afternoons
in a large city on Monday afternoons
or the gasp of an orgasm underneath the
march
of people rallying for a cause
of people rallying for a cause
or of death when it comes quiet as an
arrow
and pierces all your armor
and pierces all your armor
while you’re busy in the heat the literal
heat of battle and you fall down
heat of battle and you fall down
and the fight keeps raging around your
empty frame it never stops does it
empty frame it never stops does it