we came from cracked concrete sidewalks

i

sometimes i itch
for caffeine near midnight,
is it near midnight already?
again?

The artist’s choice of drug
alteration of perception,
stamina and energy!
alteration of mind

it’s late
and I don’t want
to spew out some old
tired cliche
like
“addiction
is a double edged sword”

we’re waiting for the rain
to come and cleanse
our sins –
the tv said there’d be rain
(damn weather man!)

like a sundial in the closet,
we all find ourselves
misplaced
(only, we put ourselves here)
“keep the coffee comin’, babe!”

addiction is self-administered
poison
(psyche)

and rain doesn’t cleanse anything
that piss doesn’t cleanse

mossy rock, waterfall, desert sands
and cacti,
visions of old sages

addiction, knowledge, psyche, words,
meditation, prayer,
chantings

my mind wanders back
to the sundial in the closet
gathering dust

ii

experiencing early childhood
in the 1990’s,
the birth of hip-hop,
disco is dead
long live disco

iii

you remember
when we were
in the desert
and we drank
one another’s sweat?

silence falls upon
a vast night –
and then
the whistle of the wind

(we bleed ink and wine)

iv

dawn cracks,
we sip cheap coffee
from styrofoam cups

the night before,
old sitcoms
blared from the telly
back in the hotel room

we were so full of dreams
and aspirations