Perpetual, This Life Poem by Ben Partenay

sometimes the Madhatter has his way, when
chaos walks the streets with a new suit and
a grin that cries “there’s no tomorrow”
you hug the walls and pray for sundown

walking home you envy the homeless bum
and his everyday routine, envy the streetlamps
for their simple tasks, envy the closed signs
on dusty window panes on Main Street

you want a life to breathe, to sit and not
have to think about breathing, to walk and
not have to worry about where you are going
but simply right, left, right your way away

but then the world falls with a crash
you lose a love, lose a promise, lose your
last bit of hope, and then you drive, you
slip on shoes and run like a swallow aflame

you get home breathless, with a new seed
in your heart, a new breath in your lung
a new kiss on your lips, and you think
today would have been a bad day

to sit still