Fire burns the flesh
Leaving scars as
Reminders of time
Traveled ways
It becomes unavoidable
Along the way
To ignore the signposts
And screams of long-dark memories
One chooses not to see,
Through time and
Along the highway,
The many burdens taken on
We all have a
Monkey on our backs;
Different forms for some,
But there for all
We try to kick it off
We try to ignore it
But it'll never leave
It likes it here too much
We feed it, you see
Treasure it
Nourish it
Play nice with it
So that by the time
We notice it, it's
Too late to just
Kick it off
Surgery becomes the only
Remedy for this discourse;
But, alas, fear under the
Knife overrides all other factors
So that we live with the
Monkey, die with the monkey
Hand the monkey down to
Our children
Like the monkey was
Handed down to us; we
Say we won't; we
Say we can't, but we do
July 6, 1996
