an understanding of sorts

I've missed
too many engagements.

I've
made too many plans-
and kept few.

I understand all too perfectly
and i am quite aware,
eventually the
invitations will stop.

the loneliness will creep in like the cold or a ghost-
eventually.

its hard to keep the few friends
i have left happy.

which is why i like to
keep in touch with
my enemies, the lazy,
the flakes and the
bored.

they understand

and require
no apologies.

09'

passing isn't everything

(B side)

you didn't score very well on my test.
I mean,
better than most.

but
you met a boring man,
in a boring city

in a boring way.

Well Blondie,
what can i say,
except

multiple choice
standardized.
fill in the blank

he passed the test .

the dress was very new york

we were
driving around
for hours,
looking
for a place to take a vacation.

You'd just come back
from a wedding and
your
dress was very new york,
you wore it well.

we are like family.
you gave me flowers
to take to my mother.

we are like family.
safe in each others company.

one day soon,
you'll be married.

one day soon

you'll ask me to visit,
to come
and see your baby.

and I will-

But tonight
I just  want to remember we
were also young.

I want to remember we used to roam cities
with nowhere to go.

I want to remember
the simplicity of tonight
and
your dress.

It was very new york,
you
wore it well-


11'

the fourth

the fourth of july,
is an odd
one.

I remember,
living in a frat house for
one-

living on her couch for another,-

my best friend at the time
and I
worked at the race track and had a beer when
we were done, for the next

then I came home.
the fire works in the neighborhood
would scare my dog Ted.

I miss them,
and those days.

I never feel very independent
on Independence Day.

We had a guest from
England this year, my sisters friend-
i was invited to join them at the aquarium to see the show.
but i just stayed home instead.

You could see the lights
from the backyard.
You could hear the fireworks all night.

But really, I just miss my dog.

09'

not by a long shot

I missed you.

even
though there
probably wasn't much to say,
I
thought i'd give it a shot.

But there is a indifference there
there is a grudge still there

you're
still the same,
making me wait in the
back of a firing line,

never saying Fire,
then
retreating.

and
even though
I
missed you-

I was the one
who
dodged that bullet.

how about that heat

The heat is getting to me,
or perhaps
I am wearing
it down

one of us will eventually give up.

at first I thought i was sure to be the victor,

the summer
retreating again and again and again.

growing bored or tired
ceding to Fall

but i can only win so long.
eventually

one day
I will retreat
into the most peaceful shade,
the coolest shade
underneath the ground.

till then the heat and I,
each nod politely-

competitors

and
wait
each other out.

 09