The Kitchen Window Guy

I have nurtured
a common string
of worries
for several years now

They amount to
a general dread
of What May Come
tomorrow
next week
or tonight
at 10:00 pm

I am sure, you see
that the car will die
or the disease will appear
with financial ruin
hot on it’s heels
maybe a little moral failure
thrown in
for good measure

Of course
most of these fears
are never realized
but I persist in my belief

My
unbelief

For instance
The 7′4″
399 lb. man
did not actually squeeze
himself through my small
kitchen window
last night
forcing me to
climb out of bed
half asleep and
spray him down
with buckshot

Similarly
neither unknown
government forces
nor private interests
nor my own ignorance
in such matters
actually converged
last month to create
a perfect financial
storm that
wiped me out
and put me
on the street
selling my cats
to survive

The health
and wealth
self-help gang
would have much
to say regarding my
various neuroses
I’m sure

But there are benefits
built into this system
of thinking

First
a certain warrior awareness
that brings a “readiness”
for ANYTHING
at ANYTIME

Next
a high-level
self-entertainment
system that the
television executives
in Hollywood
could only fantasize
about creating

Last
every once in a while
a half-baked little poem
will stick it’s head
out of the pile
and say

“Hey you,
big shot,
why don’t you
throw me out there
into the game
tomorrow
so I don’t have to
call in a favor
from the
kitchen
window
guy
tonight.”

Whoever said
poetry is for pansies
never tried to
run
one of
the
little
bastards
through
the
shredder