Twenty-something post-adolescent kids
Pretending they're chemists
Pouring substances into their body,
Combusting until their lungs go black.
"Let me test my hypothesis."
Down this bottle.
Light these leaves.

They're trying to find the formula of youth.
Well they found it.
They found it in the inability to grow up,
Consider their mortality and their fallibility,
Consider their society and what they model,
What they contribute.

They all have jobs, have gotten haircuts,
But there aren't moments in which they:
Hate where they are,
Feel their regrets,
Ashamed of what they have become,
Believing there is no way to change.

Still, they haven't concluded
Conducting their experiments.
No realizing, they have found
What they sought.
They'll keep going,
Until their flasks are cracked
And their Bunsen burners burn-out.

A boy born with a rain cloud
Perpetually over his head,
Now a man content in the gloom.

With his scowl laden face
People asked constantly,
"Are you alright?"
And with a spit and a half-smile
He's just nod and walk away.

Despite his outward conditions,
He knew happiness in bad weather.
Never in the Sun's shine,
The overcast was all he had,
And he was accustomed to his world
Viewed through grey-tinted glasses.

There was even a girl, born on Christmas
Into a world frigged yet warm.
Her eyes reflected the twinkling in the dark,
And this she carried with her all her life.

In the gloomy haze, the boy would walk
Without an umbrella as his cloud poured;
He ended droughts and never grew thirsty
On these walks that benefited everyone
But himself and his soggy shoes.

On a Winter's day he walked.
A patch of rain fall that never froze
Following the man down the road;
Among the snow fall he felt warm.
The sound of precipitation pulsing
Against his eardrums was met by song
Sung by a girl caroling for her birthday.
He stopped, soaking, he listened.
Their eyes met, and although
She never stopped singing
And he never stopped scowling
She knew he was alright,
And the reflection from her eyes
Shone in his. For a moment,
The rain had ceased to pour.

When that moment of understanding
Passed, her song had stopped
And he let out expectoration
As a drizzle accelerated into a storm.
She saw this, let out a hum
Produced an umbrella, and sang
To the strumming of his heartstrings
As they continued along the same path,
Sharing shelter and warmth.

Pull out a serrated blade
And jam it your head.
Remove the cap,
And spill out your guts.

Draw two triangles for eyes
And a knock-out some teeth.
Sit on a stoop with fiery breath
Until your flesh turns rotten

Major Life Choices

He came into this world,
Looked Death in the face,
And spit-up on the Reaper's cloak.

A smack on the ass without a cry,
His cooing was an ornery sign
Of life with his terms and conditions.

This moment is real
Your clean and sober
But, God, what you wouldn't do
For a drink right about now.

You're looking ahead,
And past the drop,
There is nothing but space.
You have two choices:
Continue to float,
Or crash upon impact.

You choose the latter,
Because man can fly
For only so long.
So smoke 'em if you got 'em
And brace yourself
For the next step.

Birthday Suit Dry-Cleaning

Half well-worn and half dapper,
I feel comfortable in my skin
As I carry my body with ease.

             And when my Long Day is through,

             I will hang up my suit, lay down,

             And have a nice

                                      Long

                                               Sleep.

Ode To My Friend

Hello my neighborhood pusherman
You're always there on your corner,
Keeping me going with that stuff you sell.
Substances you push gives me a little shove
That helps me through my day.

You push those uppers in the morning,
Just a little bit of an eye opener.
You push those uppers in the evening,
Just so I can last through the night.
You push those uppers in between,
For every other occasion.

It is the caffeine in my coffee
That you provide at dawn.
It is the nicotine in my mouth
That stifles my nightly yawns.
It is the fuel in my tank
That feeds my engine's maw.

Although you are not special
---Your kind is ubiquitous
In our addiction-riddled society---
But you still smile and say,
"Hey Buddy! What's up?"
With a wink and a nudge.