Last night, among the neon
and the noise,
they crowned me:
The King of Lost Causes.

and as i stood
beneath the stars

all the meanings
began to
change

i think you know
that i am not the praying type

but i hope you see
that you are everything
i would ask for.

she would take out her guitar
and play simple
sad
songs
trying to say with the music
what she couldn’t say
with words.

i couldn’t hear it
then.

but now
i know,

too late.

it’s been nice
but
i am going inside for a while
which is to say
i am going away again
which is to say
i am hurt but getting by and
please don’t look for me

the vultures strut with bellies full
as i stride alone through a desiccated world.

the shame of it is
that we only have one
life
to live

and it takes so long
just to learn
how.

please understand
that if i had two
i would have spent
one
with you.