a poet
is a portal
a destination
an escape
a few lines
at a time
a frozen dream

a fool
is a deadend
a joke
nothing’s shadow
a punchline
to life itself
in a waking hell

listening to
the birds calling
out to the sun
that never quite
manages to rise
just a vacancy
on the horizon

sipping coffee
under the last
gasps of night
before false dawn
casts visions
over a quiet land
of sleeping dreamers

a poet
is a flock
of little sparrows
a fool
is a bundle
of broken promises
unable to sleep