Set It Down

Borrowed land
and borrowed lives
some charity
some generosities
many kindnesses
plenty misunderstandings
a few adjustments
and then some
of all these tiny components
a life is made
like a machine broken
and repaired
put together time and again
it works it stops
works and stops again
the damage is negligible
but the joy of functionality
is lost
such friction exists
despite the taut wiring
the binding togetherness
that some part will always be crushed
oh where one may find
that sweet solace of being whole
neither stamping nor being stamped upon
not in heaven
not on earth
nowhere perhaps such a way is found
maybe a lonely heart
is the only balm
the one place where you have a home
it’s yours
no one can give you that
or take away from you
your heart is yours
small sad ugly bad however it’s
it’s yours
all the disgruntled components of life
may have given it its shape
but it belongs to you
it’s you
for in salvaging what’s broken
sometimes more is lost
the only completeness is then
an absolute aloneness of being
with the self
rest these are the ways of the world
soft and firm
and life a broken machine
sometimes you just have to set it down…