You cannot glean a life of prowess 

standing on two feet alone. 

My mother kisses me on the cheek once 

each year, to remind me that time is passing.

I have sex with men and women but

I’ve never been a cheater, and 

the greatest meal I’ve ever had 

was a $6 pizza and a stolen bottle of wine.

When we relive the pain we’ve since left behind,

we don’t remember the violence, or the sin. 

I am a cigarette butt tossed lopsided into the snow,

I am the pinnacle of Rome, and yet 

I can’t help but know unequivocal perception,

and joy. There is no arrangement of words

to acknowledge the plight of a dreamer; but

I am certain in the hopes

of a warrior.