New Rules

by ianschimmelfennig

Should you wake too blind to see
With the death of sleep still over you
Despite how patiently you
Flicker your eyes or
How rapidly you get up
And move—go for
A walk, climb a hill.
If it is before the
Dawn, even better.
Whatever the weather
What you need is the
Ecstasy of footsteps, the
Lightness and Mystery
That comes down from
A bough of cypress as
You pass it and a bum
On a blanket, sleeping
Under an overpass
With his happy heart
And a bottle of gin
Cuddled close, clutching
only what he absolutely
needs most. It’s so simple:
You take a breath of lamplight
And forget everything they
told you in school. You hear
The rhythm of your footprints
And the perfect continuing chaos
Of your heart, your eyes shift
Softly and shoot from here to
Wherever something scuttles—these are your new rules.

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