December 28, 2004

don’t think too hard about anything

By Tony Brown

my mother used to say
sing before seven,
cry before eleven. meaning

don’t let yourself be too happy.
don’t think about it. don’t even try.
give up the morning and settle for dusk,

and don’t imagine what it would be like
if the lights never came on again, because
there was never any power anyway.

don’t conjure
hope
you can’t handle.

don’t ask for mercy.
don’t turn your bed into a music hall
and expect a dance troupe to come through.

the arms of god are nearly endless,
some poet said. point being, of course, that
they do end. i should know, because god’s got me good —

that bricklayer’s
paw up in
my puppet hole.

but i keep my mouth shut, and i feel nothing.
i don’t even hum when i get up. i was well prepared.
mom was smart. i thank her every morning.

About Tony Brown

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A poet with a history in slam, lots of publications; my personal poetry and a little bit of daily life and opinions. Read the page called "About..." for the details. View all posts by Tony Brown
This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 28th, 2004 at 11:36 pm and posted in uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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