I
had a falling out with an old friend many years ago
and
I can’t stand to even hear anything about her.
Can’t
stand
it. Drives me crazy. People say you must try
to
transcend it all, let it go. I have to
hear about
her
fucking pilates classes, her irritating stock
portfolio
gains. Why do they all torture
me
with this shit? Can’t they see how
sensitive
I
am? It’s up to me to worry about the
budget,
the
contract deadlines, the flu-shot schedules,
the
fucking mortgage amortization table,
but
I’m supposed to deal with this crap
too?
It’s
too much for me. I don’t transcend. I
give
in
to temptation, and everything is a temptation.
Ice
cream in the freezer, bottle of wine
under
the sink, porn on the internet, cheap
mail-order
drugs from Canada. The psychologist
calls
and notes how happy she is in North
Carolina.
The
students arrive for class, full of a love
for
learning. I could care less.
They
are happy it’s been raining for days,
the
drought finally over. But I liked the
drought.
That’s
the way I roll. I don’t fucking
transcend.
I
brood. I complain. I work myself into a
state
of
whatever the opposite of grace is. I don’t
fucking
know anymore. The priest goes from room
to
room in the hospital, offering safe passage.
No one
can
resist. Everyone gives in. But I don’t want to take
that
ride. I want to stay stuck in this
twisted
moment
of my own passionate moral inferiority.
-- Terence Winch
from Vanitas (Spring 2012)
sing it man ...as we know all too well from humpty's story, there ain't no putting it back together again anyway, so break out the damn ice-cream and put the wine back on the counter top where it belongs...
"safe passage"? yeah, right. pass me the ben and jerry's
"chocolate therapy"
Posted by: bill | September 29, 2012 at 03:31 PM
"They are happy it’s been raining for days,
the drought finally over. But I liked the drought.
That’s the way I roll. I don’t fucking transcend."
Love it.
Posted by: emma | September 29, 2012 at 07:03 PM
I love this poem.
Posted by: Stephanie Brown | September 29, 2012 at 08:54 PM
been there, done that ... brilliant, love it
Posted by: Tina Eck | September 30, 2012 at 10:20 AM
Word.
Terrific poem. As always.
Posted by: Laura Orem | September 30, 2012 at 03:59 PM
Bravo, Bro.
Posted by: Rick Braverman | October 01, 2012 at 12:54 AM