"Rules of Joy & Entropy"
I watch your spirit fade into malaise
and I am powerless
to stop it.
One by one your angels are hauled off from the streets
and summoned before the Celestial Court
for questioning:
Your grandmother's heart is failing her,
Your father has lost his job,
Your mother is growing distant from you,
Your sister spends your money,
Your old friends have not grown with you,
Your hometown is too full of memories,
Your job does not fulfill you,
Your new friends have yet to touch your soul.
Me?
I'm afraid I am no angel,
just a mortal much like you;
just a boy who brought you home one day
and realized
that he loved you
and that he'd help you
if he could.
[first published in New Bard Press, Drive, 2004]