on a day I was walking slightly derailed, Barry and his dog Shadow stopped stopped to talk and lick, laugh and lick some more and without knowing it set me back on track sometimes a cup of coffee my favorite buttered bagel with a grapefruit chaser won’t get me moving sometimes I need a hand to realign my wheels kickstart the steam in the engine a push to get to my first stop like Barry and Shadow, I too have people waiting for me to pick them up and send them on the

as sure as I know I’ll finally stop driving at night and a certain tooth will eventually cause me money and grief and my ability to run isn’t long for this world, my string of dry days, reaching farther and farther, over and into the pond to remove algae and debris, will come to an end the look on my face when it happens should be worth some kind of admission, maybe a premium charge for a front row seat but that would need promotion, which might tip me off, and I’d be a

to be a parched flower and watch water pour over you, the joy must be immediate I know that high after the chain holding a lead ball of guilt, suddenly snaps like serving time, then seeing green trees under a wide blue sky as the prison door slams behind you another way is a nosedive into love or have love fall into you either way, you become a balloon floating over everything that would hold you down