Another Birthday

Another birthday leapt across the road today Nearly scared me half to death A mangy-looking creature Like nothing I’d expect Its eyes dark and forbidding Accusing me of cowardice Indifference and fear Of hiding from my fellow man And castrating my heart Of feeding on self-pity Indulging in defeat And with a horrifying shriek It spat at me In mockery Then vanished out-of-sight... I picked up a piece of a dream I had dropped A pebble stone for luck Tucked a little bit of wisdom up under my hat And set out once more The road far ahead of me The sun high in the sky. (Previously published in The Short North Gazette, Sept. '99; Poems Md, March '08)