bitter folding over and over and whoops there she goes against the odds but our sanity greater is love.

White as youth

And flapping joy

A butterfly

Across a field

Of purple fruit

A tattered rag

Drifts like life

Like weeds in the wind

A flower patch

The green ones grow

The brown ones die

Like butterflies.

Squeeze out the hour like

Damp from a cloth

Make the time last

As you drain every drop

Purpose is precious 

And night's all you got

Daylight just proves

You're not at the top.

I bought a bird with a broken wing.

Yes, I bought a flightless flyer.

I saved and saved

For the pricey thing

Flashing flowerbed colors

In a pet shop window.

But I bought him,

unknowing,

And I brought him

Not knowing,

Home to prep school standards,

And for all his filled-in style,

His Joseph's uniform,

He still failed the final,

Leaving it blank.

And I ask you:

Of what worth

Is a broken handle?

Of what value is a 

Needless knob?

What can it turn,

Alter, or open?

And since it can't,

Then why should I?

Why should I turn?

Why should I alter?

Why should I,

The buyer,

The owner,

The *consumer*,

Why should I open my heart to receive

The tattered garment,

The chipped glass,

The creaking gate

When

It

Drives 

Me

MAD!

Knowing what I never know.

I will never know

The rounded vase,

The curving statue.

I will never know

The well-tuned lyre,

The swelling chorus.

I will never know

The softest look,

The welcome whisper,

I will never know,

The friendly breeze,

The floating birdsong,

I will never know

The perfect peace,

The grateful slumber.

And I will never know

No, I will never care to know

At what price I was bought

Or ask

whether I, too, 

am broken.