The Next World
the loves
of my life
keep turning up
on street corners
in coffee shops
carrying their instruments
their blank notebooks
the music makers
the story tellers
the sweet friends
that destiny pours out
before me
into the bowl
of my arms
the gods love life
and so they wish
to teach us
how to be better lovers
by cracking
open our hearts
until the effusion of fire
burns us into ash
and nothing
and we cause the river
to flame along its course
like a torrent of starlight
that we may ride
into the next world
