POEM - UP IN ANOTHER ATTIC ROOM

up the front steps
up the first staircase
round the corner
up the second staircase
this one’s steeper
narrower
with a lower ceiling
here I am
another attic dwelling
duck your head
when you walk through that doorway
keep it ducked
if your want to pluck out a book
from that bookshelf
against the four foot wall
watch out for that chimney
there’s one in the center of each room
“it gets cold up here,
but you’ve got electric heaters.
Heats up quick.”
that was no lie
I’m cozy behind this desk
my old desk into which
after a nasty break up
I carved LOVE IS A ROSE
THAT DIES
AFTER STRANGLING YOU
IN YOUR SLEEP
I don’t know
what I think about that line,
now. Love might have died
but I’m still around
still kickin’ it in the coffee shops
hunched over on bar stools
walking down the side streets
laughing at the world
which hasn’t gotten the best of me
yet