This is the script
This is the day
For a life delayed
This is the play
The Hip Hip Hooray-
A Broadway hit
A mental health trip
A life filled with fear
In every rain drop there is a tear
Of the memories that linger year after year
A haunted house, a rattling mouse
This torrential domain, a soul deeply stained
Noose around the neck, for this I stutter, in this I fret-
Time is ticking for all the unpaid debt.
Looking ahead for the mending of this soul-
With its gaping hole-
I’ve been warned I’ve been told
The journey can be forever until I am old.
I swallow the storm, the rain, the clouds, the wind, the sun
The moon-
Until its noon I swallow it whole, to renew this aching soul-
There is no measurement to win, it carries the molestations of
Other people’s sin,
I remain quietly insane in the melodrama of this theatrical dance as it crawls on my skin like fiery ants.
For these things there is no release-
In time it will heal and absorb the peace-
Letting go of all that I know-
Making room for the new I kneel at the pew
Awaiting the light that can make things right
Putting an end to this decade old fight
And finally end this life of fright-
This keeps me colliding into this night-
To end in peace for the remainder of my life.

Photo: The Bronx Times Peter Milosheff, Design Rubin Gilbert. Cover of my poetry book. Dukkah