Mouth agape open jaws on the floor drooling
head sagging to one side and back
like a magnet puppeteer
noble like the attempt to spend a whole year
without drinking even a sip of alcohol
the spirits laughing during their consumption
another resolution tarnished and scarred
by temptation
Head drilled on straight like a mechanical
ready to say no and keep on pushing forward
sobriety on extreme like abstinence on promiscuity
but handles and fifths and pints and cups
are easily held like a game of Edward 40-hands
scotch tape fingers with adhesive stickiness
clinging on to all nighters and way more funners
because being the sober guy in a warehouse room
is being a slow stapler amongst a shelf of notebooks
Words come out slow and sludgy like batter
without churning or sift, leaning and falling sideways
like a styrofoam cup of liquid codeine that slurs my words—
a solution I’ve never tried but one time faked to get
only to get prescribed regular over the counter cough medicine
the University of Washington stingy through their intelligence
preventive in their handouts and snobby in their possessions
another story I couldn’t create but had to live vicariously through
Head heavyweight, a mike tyson statuette
falling down stairs in the form of slushy roads
somersaulting the asphalt in an attempt to arrive
without scratches and scabs, bruises and bumps
on the doorstep of a crown heights stoop, quiet tonight
vacant of festivity while the inhabitants flee
to other areas that promise stimulation
and aerial acrobats that rave of strawberry fields
Tongue out the mouth hoping for saliva in the air
due to a summer cold long overdue turned wintery
sniffles from the freezing temperatures for reminders
that layers upon layers are needed at night
to thaw the ice inside of a cold heart gone black
brand new attitude to a Saturday Night Fever
but the Christmas sweater shown out was worn out
and too tight to attract the loose garment blowing in the wind
In and out of consciousness like a taxi ride on road bumps
quickening the pace to slow down for the stoplights
eyes opening and closing, readying and steadying
euphoria in the form of sweet, sexy, slumber
clothes flying off like a magical breeze
covers flying over like a blanket to make me sober
dehydratation can make chapped lips gasp
for a waterfall of musical notes that lift me into clouds