Secrets of a Valuable Life
by w. e. leathem
I. Because
In contrariness let us take our stand
its swelling self-importance
seldom reaching beyond
barrel-chested bravado,
stoked on opinions (half-formed)
and jovial jestings,
is no less a beacon
by which to steer our way
than the hazardous lamp of homogenized tastes,
pre-packaged wants
and borrowed lusts
that skulk about this time and place
No, it is not so unsafe here
that we cannot still wander undirected
out beneath the scimitar moon
as behind closed doors
a fire roars its oath
to never be taken alive, or,
if cornered,
to burn down the cathedral
and with it, all
who come to worship
these false idols
II. Whenever
What decent father never
stole away at every opportunity
while heads were turned,
the dishes be damned,
the laundry be damned,
the Chevy leaking oil on the drive be damned
and yes, if they must, for a moment,
the children be damned
To sit, rocking beneath the old elm
as it sings its peace to the sky?
What doting mother never
failed to wink, knowingly,
even as her tongue scolded
the misdeeds,
that if pursued in earnest,
lead to damnation,
or discomfort
or, if left unchecked,
to unpopularity
Whose laws are these anyway?
And who holds the key
to the doors that bar?
It is certainly not us
nor any honest soul
For as every decent person knows:
While each sin must exact its tribute
a bullet to the head
is always more merciful
than one’s days bled from them
an hour at a time
III. At Last
So, will we stoop to the grind,
chain our hours
to phones, to desks
to rules etched in borrowed stone
by another’s hand?
Or will we poach beauty
from the pool of a moment,
slake our thirst with water
that admits no governor,
quench our heart’s desire
if only for an instant
belonging no man
no state
no gawd