living with closed eyes

scent of other people’s smoke
water on my tongue
background celebrity chatter

stray pill hits the floor

knuckles cracked so often
they revolt even me

tolerance for the bleak
should be the state motto

just up the road there’s an all night regret
i can visit whenever i want
where the hill is alive with the sound
of the same car passing the old apartment
many times over many hours
praying for the light to stay off

i could be one move from success
if i could move at all

One of my favorite character actors. I keep thinking of his being repeatedly bumped from “The Larry Sanders Show.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/15/kirby.obit.ap/index.html

when you left
and i closed the door behind you,
and settled in to do the paperwork
i’d been putting off all day,
it felt like the lid coming down
on an open manhole
with me inside.

down here
the only thing to do
is mine the dark
and listen for the sound
of metal grinding on metal
which will tell me
you’re up there waiting for me
to climb back into the light.