CUL-DE-SAC

I walk to the kitchen when I get out of bed.

It’s the pulse in my life. It’s another day spent

You feel the time passing and you know where it went.

I’ve seen changes in people and changes in places.

Some children grew strong. Some old folks got lame.

And what about me? I feel about the same.

Can still walk up a mountain and reckon life’s puzzles.

Some people do smile when they see it’s your face

You still love most people and you’re not in a race to be

Famous or mythic. I’m just here and that’s fine.

Today is my birthday and I don’t really mind.

I’ve had them a lot. It’s just a new day.

But if you wanna tell me, Good Luck! That’s OK.

What does it look like when you die?

Your life is a movie that just turned to black.

But not like the nighttime

When bugs sing and birds cheer

There’s no shape in your sightline

There’s nothing to hear

Our minds can engineer magnificent tools

Imagine great beauty. Faith, logic and rules.

But you can’t think about nothing.

You can’t see pure darkness.

Death has no thoughts. No hopes. No despair.

It’s not a long sleep. Not a dream or nightmare.

Death ain’t a mountain and death ain’t a pit.

I swear. I just can’t picture it.

Her eyes get smaller when she smiles

And she has driven several miles

Where we can talk about our new lives.

She’s divorced like me.

A son and daughter like me.

But it’s hard to see

If they are new lives

Or the same old pond that ripples when

You see a hope of love but then

Your chances aren’t but one in ten!

Your life’s a lake that’s far too deep.

The things you carry won’t lay down

The things you own will not pay down.

And now those eyes are hidden by shades

As my Asian woman fades

Too real and too far away to be found.