Terms of surrender

Full of myself

Running on empty

I took a moonlit walk.

Breathing as usual,

A nobody looking at the stars,

Hating myself

For not understanding much of anything

I listened to my beard growing in the dark.

What I figured is that I am just dying for love

Stupid like everybody

Empty-handed

Awestruck and aging.

I thought:

We are the by-product of some other project,

Something more important

The universe had in mind.

The night sky was whispering

To my grandsons as they slept

About the next stage of human evolution.

Everything was quiet

Secrets flying off in all directions

I could hear everyone being murdered by life

Everyone making love with it

Deep around the world.

But there I was, a silly little center of gravity,

Twinkling like a feeble star in the night.

I asked Amygdala to draft the terms of surrender.

                                             -- Panama, 11 March 2006