october

late at night my neighbor's

kitchen light keeps me awake. i peer

curious across the alley

but the rooms are always empty.

not ours; this one-bed, kitchen,
living room & full bath (with
leaky tub) seems too small.

it's late, quite late i guess. i've slept

for hot hours. now awake, sweaty,

useless. what's there to do at 4:09?

so it was this sweet fall afternoon,

i sat on an empty couch, empty-minded

trying not to sleep. i've already wasted time

more than Napoleon, Newton, Roosevelt.

you'd think eventually apathy would dissolve;

it doesn't. you have to break it apart

molecule by molecule, which is

as much the 1,087th break-apart

as it is the 1st. we all know this.

my late-awake neighbor

stumbles into view, shredding

our beautiful morning with curses.

his woman screams; i cannot see her

commanding him to stop, pleading with

us sleepers for relief.

frail, is beauty; timid, peace. meanwhile

fierce, is apathy; relentless, violence.

i yell from my dark window: "i

hear you! let her go!" and

the kitchen light goes out,

silent. sweet October--

we live in you like nervous children.




October '09