(Reposted with Sung Poetry link)

Take the shot, they said

I ran my finger around the rim of the glass

The fumes of insults bitter rose

Hard liquor is not for me, I tell them,

I remember when I drank that poison

Dancing lightly to the tune of other people’s dreams

I just slip out the back door, now

To smoke freedom in the alley

Walk out onto the sidewalk under lamp posts

Glowing golden in the night

To wander empty city streets and dream

Of communal integration and

Hopes of equitable contribution

My thoughts become a world renewed

By pleasant innovation

Before I know it, I’ve gone home

A waiting invocation to a peaceful

Destination brought by sleepy

Contemplation

In the morning, I will rise

Put some plans upon the table

Avoid stinging tribunals from defenders

Of the status quo

Fanciful rebellion built from cotton candy

Musings

Holding sacred all the precious beauty

Which has become the inspiration

For each flowering consolation

What is love if not the logical progression

Of earthly preservation plus

The deeply cultivated reverence

For each human’s common situation

Temporary permanence

On a trip or two around the sun

What have we won with greed

What have we lost with need

Unfulfilled and

Running headlong in between

The birthing and the grave

Full stop

Give me your hand

Let’s watch the sun caress the sky

Whether rising

Whether sinking

We are written within time’s eternal

Constellation