sobriety

i stole the letter you wrote her

because the words made me feel better

lucky…home…

loose vows I drove out

in a limo

still I swear my body lay 

in a hurse

i used to pry open rope with my teeth

to watch sails fall

the holidays aren't for you,

you know this

you'll work time and a half

to watch crowds

float down subsidized

boardwalks

past the place you work

their arms will be nets

mouths on hooks

feet white speed boats

but you'll be sorting

celery from bok choy

at the 24 hour store

maddened cuz no one else 

knows how to live life with purpose

I stare at hot photocopies

as if they had souls

as if they knew what they meant to me

the brown legal envelopes

flatten their chests

and breathe smoke

till I worry they'll catch

but they haven't yet

and i've still got my 

sense of …

and my sobriety mostly

a few letters you wrote

to someone before me