I stayed up to tell you.

I stayed up to tell you
My body and mind are a ghost ship
Muscles pull and tug,
Veins bleed, but something’s adrift
Legs longing to move
Limbs get ready, the harbor’s glistening

My palms are Hawaiian
Trees on my walk home wave to me freely
Qualms mirrored on the chyron
Make the elderly steely

Hardly aware of my own surroundings
!
Who am I visiting at this nursing home
?
Why won’t they let me leave
?
I want to wave at the trees.
Freely.

I stayed up to tell you
My body and mind are a ghost ship
Muscles pull and tug,
Veins bleed, but something’s adrift
Legs longing to move
Limbs get ready, the harbor’s glistening

My name is Matt
Hi, Matt.

A new perspective is always welcome
Let’s be artists and draw from arteries
Potential is poison
Have nun,
be pious,
humble yourself
Surprise yourself
Stumble yourself
Into being a garden variety
Hallmark Card.

Wrong.
No.
Bad Dog.

Don’t forgot
How you arrived in
A state of comatose
Stand up.

Muscles pull and tug,
Veins bleed, but something’s adrift
Legs longing to move
Limbs get ready, the harbor’s glistening
My body and mind are a ghost ship.
No longer.

Michael Carney