somedays i doubt
i could ever be old and
comfortable simultaneously
i watch finches eat trash
or wasted handiwork on a
walgreens billboard
labor of love?
how can i keep my head in the now
and not catch a whiff?
or do i learn to love the stench-
particles over the freeway
brown sifting
into our sock drawers
(cadavers of LA resident non-
smokers were
opened up with black lung)
fart, and pasadena smells it
are you all too tired
to read on the bus?
are you worn thin?
are you still chasing the children
running through your mind?
or have they left you behind?