Know Woe

Know Woe
6 May 2016

My commute was horrible.
People weren’t very nice.
The other drivers were terrible.
I almost got hit twice.
Traffic was the worst, wouldn’t you know,
The real possibility of a flat tire
In the miles and miles of slow and go
Just pushed my stress levels higher.
Arriving home, I promptly collapse.
Tomorrow’ll be another rat race.
I dream of retiring, perhaps.
My life needs a change of pace
And I’m in danger of a relapse.
Thinking, I don’t see any choice,
My life’s stalled, stuck in a rut.
Nothing makes my heart rejoice,
But I’m angry enough to kick butt.
Alas, I don’t know who’s butt to kick.
I want to feel better, that’s for sure.
All this stress is making me sick.
Tonight I’ll make alcohol my cure.
One immediate affect of drinking
Is a change in mood and thinking.
So as to not borrow sorrow,
I’ll think about tomorrow tomorrow.

Tribal Survival

This story in the San Francisco Chronicle inspired the poem below:

http://projects.sfchronicle.com/2016/living-with-aids/story/

Tribal Survival
3 March 2016

A part of me wanted to shed a tear,
But my well of feeling was so deep
It felt more like mourning’s nadir.
Profound feelings managed to seep
To the depths of my weary soul.
I was reading stories of long-term
Survivors of the hiv and AIDS  toll.
They coped while others became infirm,
And tended them until they expired.
The survivors living on to become
Victims themselves, overwhelmed and tired.
In some cases getting to be scum,
Too sick to work, but too healthy to perish;
Ending up in medical and financial limbo.
In an effort to avoid more nightmarish
Emotional trauma, they isolated in woe.
Still living and struggling to adjust,
In trying to keep it all together,
Some days it’s been a case of just
Putting one foot in front of the other.
But it’s not over until the fat lady sings.
Disappointment, joy, loss, love, despair,
Boredom, hope and gratefulness are fillings
For their individual stories of life’s scare.
In a few cases older men have connected.
Ultimately, who will be the last man standing;
The last man to tell his tale, respected
For enduring to the final disbanding?

Requiescat For Matt

My former roomate's brother collapsed at work, then died at the hospital.

Requiescat For Matt
17 November 2012

Like a blow that takes your breath away,
I just don't know what to say.
He died? Matt, your brother?
You're sure it was him and not some other?
Help me find a chair.
I'm fighting for air,
Descending into despair.
The world's gone mad, I swear.
It wasn't his turn to die,
He was younger than I.
Woe unto me!
How can this be?
There's a hole in my heart,
An absence on his part.
I'm perplexed,
What's next?
How can life go on
Now that he's gone?
Like a blow that takes your breath away,
I just don't know what to say.