life is not enough for some
folks they have to marry it
mob it cheat it eat it they
have to dress it up in white
satin and silk cummerbunds
they have to throw pearls
at life like hail the size of
quail eggs they have to
drink to its soul carry it
in rucksacks bury it in
olive groves wrap it up
in french ribbon trade it
like donkey flesh or skeins
of cloth pluck it like cat gut
pray for it to come back as
wine you see life is just not
good enough for some folks
they have to vote on it write
songs about it lick their left
thumbs and come out fighting
over it they have to organize it
store it stock it love it cross it off
their lists or else catalog it and
leave it to rot on a shelf or possibly
cross themselves with four fingers
cut their front teeth bite on the neck
of life wrestle it to the ground make war
on it you see some folks have to put a spin
on life spit on life or watch life die they have to
tear it up and start all over again you see some people
just can't take life as it is they build churches to life
they tell fortunes with it they peer through it like
a telescope at distant galaxies they roll it up
with cigarette paper and get high on it
some people pick it plant it steal it
hand it over to the authorities
study it like a holy secret or
worship the hell out of it
like the body and blood of
the sons and daughters
who have left them
for lives of their own