There was a knock on the door
An owl with a purse and a box of matches
Said he had come to take me away
The neighbor who always rudely
Parks his truck almost on my front yard
Sang to me, saying, “It takes more strength to live
Because living is worth the trouble!”
I asked him if he was daringly volunteering
To life the rest of my life in place of me
He went silent
There was knock on the door
It was my dear friend who I had lost
Long ago
He didn’t recognize me
He seemed to think I was lost,
But he couldn’t find his way to the stairs
I offered to give him directions
But he started crying with his purse
And his box of matches
And his smoking pipe where the wood burnt through
26 and a half years now
That I have attempted to stand up
To this challenge with the purse and
The box of matches
26 and a half years
That no one else has endured
No one would endure
Do I not deserve rest?
No, said my long-lost friend
No, now said the owl
No, said my annoying neighbor, who sang to me,
“Remember that time in the car with Ray Charles
Singing ‘Georgia on My Mind’?” “Remember who
You were with, where you were at, who you were,
Remember to soft glow before the hammer,
You can be there again.”
That is impossible I said.
There is no cure.
And I cannot remember.