the tears of men

there’s another storm coming

rain to last for days

 

i found some merlot on sale

and bought a few bottles

 

i never drink wine

but it sounded like a good way

to wait out the rain

 

instead of being soaked

all night

with no one else in sight

 

stay in

with my cat i still haven’t named

watch the rain

hit the window pane

 

the only light in the apartment

will be the glow of my cigarette

 

i must admit i admire those who find purpose

as long as their purpose doesn’t need me

to make their truth real by my agreement

 

i may agree we need a revolution

overthrow corporate control

just don’t expect me to stick around

when things turn violent

 

and lately i’m thinking i need a trip away

see a new place in decay

las vegas maybe

or the river

somewhere out of this town

 

i did spend last night down

by the aqueduct

watching the rain drenched channels flow

 

i had a 12 pack and a cigarette pack

and i just sat there

a couple of times i added to the water level

as i relieved myself

 

i had passed a homeless man sleeping

under an overpass on my way to that spot

and on the way back

i placed the three beers i had left

and the nine empty cans

next to his sleeping body

 

before sliding back onto city streets

and into my place on a public bus

 

i exited about ten miles from my place

and started walking

 

while watching the water on its directed flow

i did not feel like siddhartha in hermann hesse’s book

when he sat by the river side

and found answers

 

it was just water

caused by the rain

flowing to the ocean

 

i have stood in the rain

i have stood where the aqueduct

reaches the beach

 

and i reached no conclusions

 

i wish there was inclusion

but the gods drink from water bottles

labeled, “the tears of men”

 

and it’s not even filtered

 

you see

there are always two sides

either corporate greed caused the ruin

or the have nots are not willing to work

 

either god doesn’t exist

or it has to be our fault

how can god be blamed

 

i am passing an ice cream truck

abandoned with a flat tire

i don’t know why i find this symbolic

but i do

 

what can i say

everything to me is just an example

of the inevitability of decay

 

no matter how precious the cargo

and how much it is meant to bring joy

 

***