Forgive me this sin
I'm falling over
And flashing tin grins
And rolling in clover
So ready to get out
And eager to please
Well, it's late in the day in the middle of a life
But it's early in the century.

I never got it
I never got it before –
Hey, hello—how do you get on?

So much undone—
It's like it was before.

We both got a lot to be thankful for.

Forgive me my tongue
It doesn't know what it's doing.
It used to get washed out
Now it's undisciplined and crude.
I'm losing my language
And calling a truce,
And the shape of the thoughts in my head
Aren't right for the words I've got to use.

I got it never
Never got it before
Hey, hello—how do you get on?

So much undone—
And still you shine like the sun.

We both got a lot to be thankful for
We both got a lot to be thankful for

White dwarf, red giant
It's empty in space
And where there's matter there's violence.

I never got it,
Never got it before.
Hey, hello—how do you get on?

So much undone—
It’s like it was before.

We've got a lot to be thankful for.


Published by Rain Farm Press and its literary journal Paradigm.
Copyright © 2007.