"Another Shall Be Another's"

Ode to JB, courtesy of Pablo Nuerto, Poema 20

I burn

my smoke competing 

with the fog sliding

across the pasture before me

I hear the crickets sing

in the darkness

at my feet

another shall be another's

Venus shining down 

through the clouds

whispering

another shall be another's

Leaves falling

from the trees

remind me 

another shall be another's

It is easier

I tell myself

to pine for the unattainable 

so let another be another's

I stare 

at the tattoos that

cover my arms 

what was once art 

is now a warning:

Don't get too close!

Lest you become 

blood of my blood

skin of my skin

bone of my bone.

Bare Naked Ladies 

on the computer croon

"I wake up scared, I wake up strange 

I wake up wondering if anything in my life is ever going to change 

I wake up scared, I wake up strange 

And everything around me stays the same"

So I paint. That is what I do

fast and furious. 

I don't want to stop 

lest sleep over come me

I need someone 

I want to love,

to be loved. 

I don't want to be alone.

But for now

to staunch the bleeding, 

I allow myself only

what crumbs are left over.

A Buddhist, a begger

is there a difference

at this point?

My needs don't matter.

Not when another shall be another's.