"Bowling" - 4/10/03

the cracking sound
of pins falling
with full force of a breaking limb
the sound of what was once long-standing
fallen as saurian souls

I witness from afar
my back sore with stalwartness
the one thing left to shape my thoughts
the sunlight-harshness of my score
lower than most (but by no means the lowest)
I'm no Olympian here in Wisconsin
___
there is a kind of sadness
withers me within
each breath exhaled
each step taken
each beating wing I perchance might tear
competing blindly as airplanes 'gainst air

and I'll win one
then I'lI lose two
considering sharply, my existence
a pin in a bowling alley
a cat with no lives left (but this)
___
Oh Love, how shall we choose to spend it
this last dance of pennycandy -
centered and flawless...
impassioned and reckless?

breathing labored
movements graceful
holding every hope
in the grip of this moment
and slowly letting go
of life's ball

to bowl