Poem of the Day 01.07.09

after li po and fleet foxes

and the first song tells me
to come down from the mountain
because spring is here
and i think how i haven’t written
a poem in over a week
nor have i thought about writing
but instead have pondered
the trappings of the old winter doldrums
the tragedy of being newly sober for one day
the end of this damnable year
and the burgeoning evidence rising
against the pleasures of the next.
but something about the simplicity
of the message really got me
and i forgot all of that for a time.
and on the cold brooklyn street
with the sun rising over the east
traffic building up along 4th avenue
into an ugly swirl of horns and exhaust
insomnia burning my eyes
and my belly hungry for anything
i had to smile and listen intently
to the music echo off the storefronts
and in my ears, rattling my wicked soul,
thinking i might be so happy in this moment
i could reach up and try to hug the moon
before it fades into the creamy orange
illumination of the day’s first light
and i start drowning in the bile
of old wine and this life again.