don't think: ...that you can't quit writing,
and that you're the cat's meow
as you swipe lilting phrases
from Patchens, and Downing
and all but steal the words
at play.

stay jovial, smile and the hurt
is stilled--in your heart
and it stifles the amygdala
from limbic responses
to daily encounters
of constant dances with reality.

so, as Paradiso said,
you must let your muse rest.
yes, and when he's back
he's filled with sweet
furies aplenty, a blanket
of caressing words adrift

in a ladle
of life.

01/18/2006