not safe in life’s amusement park,

pain takes lodging behind the eyes

I’d await the unrelenting sting

without intention to accept it

twirling on the dance floor

hiding hurt behind the beat

the ache so deep, so genuine

sucking life from inside out

despondent in an asylum of mistakes

craving a common or a temperate stroke

a touch of solidarity, can you please

set aside a cup of tea, grant a private smile

the rise and fall of hurried assessments

overtake nomadic searching of those

sad and slow good-byes

how appropriate and simple was the decline

mistake by sad mistake

judgments pronounced, decisions made

mixing with a sick and rotting pain

of failing, slipping, fading slowly

many years ago he whispered, “take my hand—

love yourself; take back your soul before all else”

and while a bit of wisdom never hurts

I could not embrace the promise of it