"jesus christ i'm alone again so what did you do those three days you were dead cause this problem's gonna last more than the weekend."

in the past couple of days
these two anvils,
shovels, maybe, lead pipes, wrenches,
have been beating me about the head
and shoulders

i was trying to keep my balance
and then along they came —
i was trying to have friends
and then along they came —
how does that happen?

i've been counting the weeks.
have you?
yeah well.
i guess not.

i spent the morning listening,
watching
the young people of yesterday
begging us not to repeat their failures.
the inherent problem is:
they didn't realize that they had failed
and logic follows that neither will we.
it was sad, really.
the way he pulled regret out of thin air
and settled it on his shoulders.

one day i will be like that.
regret will drift down and condense in my hands
but i will have no shoulders upon which to settle it;
they will have been worn away
by those two anvils,
shovels, maybe, lead pipes, wrenches —

no, they are not any of those things.
the power of words.
the power of words.
i never believed it until now.