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"I wake up tired and sore", "By Candlelight" & "Rabbit" by Jason Melvin



I wake up tired and sore


and often soaked in sweat


I don’t remember being awake

or any dreams I may have had

but I’m usually more tired

then when I went to sleep


They say it takes

ten years

and four rheumatologists

to get a proper diagnosis

it’s been twenty

and five

but who’s counting


when I open my eyes

I realize I can’t open my mouth

without pain in my jaw

What else could cause this

other than a punch?


The doctors take my blood

and shrug their shoulders

I’d shrug my shoulders too

but it hurts when I try


My legs are so sore

I feel as if I was chasing

or being chased

My knuckles are swollen

and it hurts to bend my fingers


they offer pills that don’t work

that make me more tired

when I’m barely functioning


There is one logical conclusion

that really holds no logic at all

but it gets me through the day


After I close my eyes to sleep

I fight crime

or aliens

or masterminded villains

Slip into another dimension where

I must be a goddamn superhero


More Batman than Superman

I doubt the man of steel wakes up sore

plus, I hope I can’t fly

If I can fly

but don’t remember it

that’s some royal bullshit


It’s nice to know

when I close my eyes

I’m destined to hand out

some vigilant justice

makes the struggle

a little bit more rewarding


*sidenote*


Considering, I wake every morning feeling as if I got my ass kicked, a friend points out there is a good possibility I’m the villain.


Sadly


There’s logic here




By candlelight


The wind stole out the light

we pull the curtains to invite in

the last of gray daylight

we three wife, daughter and me

play Rummy by candlelight


Christmas Wish Christmas at the Beach

Aromatic Evergreen infused with Orange

You Had Me at Merlot

candles placed throughout the living room

my daughter says it smells like puke in here


the game ends quickly they go to bed

notebook on the table pen in hand

I watch the candle wicks flicker

You Had Me at Merlot cavorts spasmodically

the flame moves swishes

as if outside caught in the damaging winds


I was caught once in a wind that stood still

on a train bridge with a friend

a train traveling south displaced us

to the northbound tracks

until a northbound train captured that space

Twelve to fifteen feet between both trains

traveling at a good clip

The swirled wind made visible

by t-shirts and hair dancing

we felt nothing heard no sounds

all sensation caught in a vacuum

senses trapped twisted

to feel the sound but not hear it

see the wind but not feel it

I bounced a fist-sized stone

off the side of a boxcar

Its silent voice echoed through us

our faces twisted in surprise and laughter


The wind outside is loud frightening

and stole the light


The candle flame dances and moves

to a soundless music




Rabbit


the Rose of Sharon blooms

closed shop for the night

pink rolled-up tootsie rolls


tonight every night

You emerge from beneath its branches

as my feet leave the pavement

as they lick the damp grass

You emerge repudiating instinct

to scurry the sensible choice

of your brethren your species

In life you were a lion

but a lion couldn’t live

beneath the branches

of an overgrown

Rose of Sharon

A lion would frighten a boy

slightly fearful of the dark

fearful of the life without

his father


I know it’s you

I know it’s you

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