Poem after Bouncing … ~ Rafferty

Poem after Bouncing the Rent Check and Waking with a Hangover, while Searching for My Car Keys Twenty Minutes before a Very Important Interview
A sudden jolt.
And the Ferris wheel rolls free
of its axle —- a blackened
screaming circle
tumbling over the pier.
This is the story
of your life: disaster,
one after another,
as relentless as debt,
as sudden as a hiccup.
Even now the wires
inside your walls
are frayed and sparking
like a tiny Fourth of July.
Even now the woman you love
is testing the feel
of her ringless finger.
There is no point in preparation.
There is no point in anything.
If it has to, disaster will enter
through drafty cracks
or simply run faster than you.
So open the door
and give it a drink.
Say that it’s kept you
waiting.

~ Charles Rafferty