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Midnight Ramble
It begins in cold darkness
and the thick solitude of a quiet car
splashing through the empty streets of town.
Flashing traffic lights, Christmas lights,
porch lights left to burn, water streaked vestiges
of a brighter world I missed while asleep.
This is the time for me. It’s all so clear,
a silent symphony of subtle revelations
otherwise muted by the daylight clamor
of horns, sirens, and screeching wheels.
But even now, there is little time to savor.
Work begins in just two minutes.
A few more gulps of hot coffee
to burn the lingering fog away.
There are deserts to cross and mountains to climb
before the light of day.
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Mapping
Standing before a large map on the wall,
I trace serpentine lines with my right index finger
across all the places I’d go
if only I had the time and freedom to roam.
Maybe someday I’ll see these places
as more than red and blue arteries stretching
across oddly shaped borders.
It suddenly occurs to me that I’ve been mapping
destinations most of my life.
Speaking of life, will there be enough left in me
by the time I’m deemed old enough
to kick away these boots I’ve been wearing
since I became a man in need of belonging?
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Where Loneliness Gathers
I’ll bet there’s a little karaoke bar
on some remote corner
of some godforsaken one stop light town
that looks a lot like the edge of the world,
and that there are desperate people gathered there
at this very moment, some sitting alone,
quietly sipping their foamy beers,
contemplating why they are there.
Perhaps it’s because they are tired of feeling so tired,
tired of feeling so feckless, or so old,
or that the silence at home
this time was a bit too much to bear,
or was it just the shimmering lights
of a night outside
that was still so very young?
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Sub-zero
There’s an old red bicycle frozen in the snow
in front of a little clapboard bungalow
at the far end of my street.
There’s a thick wool cap on this silly ass head,
thermal socks, and heavy boots on these crunching feet.
Why? Oh why in hell, I ask, did I venture out here
on a morning when I could’ve just stayed asleep?
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Haunted Avenues 