THE FELICITY OF ROSE PETALS

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Maybe we feel more alone
Because we are always
On the receiving end of
Things
Like
data 
And
Signals
And boxes
that have traveled the length of 
The Amazon
Directly to the gimme
Grabby hands of our front door
Which we greet
With the felicity of rose petals
and the passion
Of a Times Square sailor
Kissing the war goodbye
On the surrendered lips
of a limp-bodied 
Arm-dangling
nurse.

And yet at the end of the day
When my only companion is
The invisible escort of
The well-traveled sleeping pill
The truth is
Right outside my shutters
The overpopulation of stars
cram the roadway of
The universe
Like all the abandoned cars 
bound for Woodstock

When we were young
Oh, when we were young,
We prowled
And excavated
And gathered
And chanted the ancient mystical
Incantations 
of rock and roll
As we migrated our way
Across the chart of evolution
That ended 
Once we finally stood straight
Like responsible Homo Sapiens
And looked ahead
Without the conspiracy of consequences.

And now with so much coming my way
Other than you
The best that I can do is
send out a search party
And come home
Empty-handed
Because no matter hard you try
you can’t apprehend memories
That long ago
Escaped.

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