I’m Harmless in January
I’m pretty much a recluse in the winter
but I drink lots of beer
and wander the place
aimlessly
on a Saturday night
-thinking, drinking, writing
with my tablet in hand
and headphones on my head.
I’m a dancing man
that needs a wireless set
because I get tangled up
on everything
even the cats and myself, of course.
My brother’s used to it.
He would help me out
at those uncertain times
when I can’t get past the fridge.

Sometimes
I’ll come out of hiding
from the garage, the basement, the front closet
or pop out from under the couch
to ask him a relatively deep
philosophical question
that he’s always got an answer for
and as soon as he does
start answering
I would press ‘play’ on the tablet
blast the music in my headphones
and start
dancing away
down the hallway.
Just to fuck with him.

He’s a good sport.

Sometimes
I won’t even make it through
the entire question
before pressing ‘play’
and dancing away
as he laughs
as I laugh…

and it’s good.

And this is January.

Endless January
Sometimes you just
have to fight it off
like the flu
these things
these things that crawl inside
this restless stir
grown from a dead landscape
when it has become certain
that there’s nothing outside
the blackened windows
but endless January.