Tonight i'm posed and popping like a peacock. I'm pressing flesh. I'm smiling big. My spinning head sings "stop, just stop." Cause what used to calm me down just rips my life to ribbons now. so i keep smiling. I find my window and quick cut out. These days my hangman's hunger makes my gut kick. My sleeping mind could map it blind: a flask, a key, a bag, a fifth. I try to will myself away while shouting habits plead their case. So when the sun seers through my eyes, a beggar's brain can't compromise. I splash cold water. I draw the curtains. I stay inside. And i can't say that it's a sickness, more like a stranger i ask in and later realize it was a strangler slipping nooses in my den. but i was lonely, so i asked him, "could you tie that one on me?" it wasn't his fault. I was eager and i was weak. so as i inched towards resolution, yeah, i'm not sure which life feels right. No narrow noose or the wading water will hang in hex or open eyes. i know my brother, he went one way and at the fork i heard him say, "don't you follow. Don't go making my mistakes." and i realized what he meant: don't kill yourself to raise the dead. It never works. You'll only end up joining them. It never works. You'll only end up joining them.