In the Face of Death

This situation isn't existential
But religious, holy and dramatic,
Not so circumstantial, more emphatic,
Drought becoming rain, dark and torrential.
You're sure it's nothing short of providential
That in the face of death you've been ecstatic
Yet contained. You feel so democratic,
Which may be pleasing, but it's not essential.

We stubbornly remain in this dimension,
Blessed with certainty, a smattering
Of data that we claim, by flattering
And soothing, will release our built-up tension,
Carrying us through untold dissension
Smartly, and through all this chattering.

Altitudes

Who knows what altitudes I might have climbed.
When I was just a child, our treehouse sat
On branches strong and effortlessly fat,
Where we sat on the roof, and gladly rhymed
Our secret chants. The steeple bells that chimed
Urged us on higher, higher up than that.
We watched kites, moths, and rockets, then a bat
Flew through our frail arms, sudden and ill-timed.

I tried new tactics, but they never worked,
I tested theories idly, fecklessly,
I hoped good things would rise and come to me
But when things did move, they revolved and jerked
As if, insensate, they were merely irked,
And, giving up, I rolled into a tree.

Chives and Giants

I stanch the bleeding where I pricked my hand,
And wait for someone helpful to arrive,
Either a giant or a vital chive —
Thin, green, delicious — from along the strand
Where onion sellers congregate, a band
Known far and wide for playing jazz and jive
With contrapuntal shifts and raffish drive.
The giant knows first aid. He's rather bland.

I'm half asleep and fallen in a rut
Too deep to climb out from, and I'm not strong;
I always seem to think I'm going wrong,
Which is the way I turned to get this cut.
I knew I was ass-backwards, in my gut.
I dream of chives and giants all day long.

My Life Experience

I've been betrayed, dismayed, debased, detained,
Unsettled, disenfranchised, wasted, stressed,
Distressed, hexed, vexed, impeached, depressed, repressed,
Traduced, rebuked, refused, confused, disdained,
Abashed, arraigned, pained, stained, restrained, constrained,
Embarrassed, left behind, wrongly confessed,
Debauched, defrocked, mocked, rocked, condemned unblessed,
Scoped, scooped, scraped, scrapped, encircled, and enchained.

My life experience is deeply fraught
With undermining hammer blows, weak bones,
And bad songs built up on the semitones
Between good notes. I was largely untaught,
And hoped a smile would swamp the shallow thought
Of passion's victory. I've eaten stones.