What does not kill me just isn’t trying hard enough
     And I was never the man that I used to be
But this is a mirage 
     Heat quivering from the blacktop 
The smoke of a thousand cigarettes 
     I see your face there, if but for a moment
There was a four-alarm fire at the warehouse
     The warehouse on Aliceanna Street
It happened last week and I had an alibi
     Your mother covered for me and I was tempted 
Because love is where you find it
     So I sleep in my clothes 
I keep a bag in the car
     The heat from the blacktop was like a sign from God
I don’t carry as many keys as I used to
     I have my friend’s house key and she died
No memorial candles
     And I wonder where my paintings went

Dancing at the restaurant proved unsatisfying 
     The mirage dissipated and now I’m just lost
Your face is a vapor
     Calling a taxi that will never come
I put a bullet through the alarm clock this morning
     And I had been awake for hours
The taste of coffee finds me writing
     I’m writing a letter to you that will never be posted
I’m writing a list of pros and cons for something 
     Things to do today
Anything to waste a pencil
     This is supposed to be cognitive therapy
But I do not subscribe
     Medicine is not an excuse to quit dancing
And the next wound will be the last, but cheer up
     Your entree comes with two sides

What does not kill me just bores me sideways
     The serial arsonist disappeared into the night 
At the station house I cleared my name
     I got drunk with your mother and it happened
I waited to blackout, but I remember it all
     All the pills aside, a good time was had
But I had to jam; a bag in the car; my beat guitar
     Let’s not argue semantics
I dreamed that my paintings were rotting in the landfill 
     I can’t save them now
I can’t even save myself
     Never mind you.

^^^

Danny D Bennett is an artist, writer and musician who lives and works in Baltimore Maryland. 

Image by Kalyee Srithnam.