The now horizons pinch
at the hobo shivering under
the momentary extraction stars
mining resources, raw material
from a live body sitting
in an automobile in traffic.
Local histories, reflections,
and legends house redundant
in a cloud or in a tiresome
silicon memory board
while each morning blank slates
from screens and ear buds
distribute with coffee.
Tomorrow, another spotlight
arrives without an audience
and the sky fracks, guts
from head to toe -- ta-da.
AI with an eye just for fun
sweeps up into a dust pan
after the IT jujitsu move on beings.
With yesterday a bruising blitz
and with a to-do list streaming
through pixels the bum in park
on the freeway has never been at home.
The grave may as well be
as warm as a tropical beach
with the sun flooding
the eye your shotgun left you
for all the difference it makes to you
now you're listening to me
as well as ever
and coyotes may sing on the hillside
but it won't be my carcass that draws them
small thanks to you
while robins and sparrows
chime ahead of the dawn
I wish you could share
this moment with me
and be my friend for once
on this adventure I know
better than to follow
and about time I wised up
You didn't have to listen to Mom
You didn't have to point that thing at me
