reasons in poetry

sharing words, sharing time
sharing song, maybe making a dime
these are the reasons I’m still alive
in hospital bed that I didn’t die
or wreck out on the four-oh-five
hit by a city bus in Syracuse
shot by some Brooklyn cop on the loose
these are the things I live to choose
these are the things that I’m here to do
sharing love for a moment
not pretending I can own it
just happy to have known it
for at least some little while
shared that sly little smile
these are the reasons I tussle with sheets
punch walls in my sleep til my hands bleed
that I wrestle with shadows
I’m tossed about by tornadoes
temper tempests with screams
I suffer storms in my dreams
that I push through the nightmares
wake up despite dire fears
these are the reasons I manage
to bite down on these lean years
share myself for whatever it’s worth
share ourselves for however it goes
never break but sure do bend low
hunkered down for the hurricane
in the eye of my own tornado
these are the reasons
I still get up and go
well, and also, of course
it’s all that I know