this was an accident
i was drinking
yeah
i was using
but that's not why this happened
it just did
flashbacks
sitting on a large patch of grass in hilo
surrounded by tall coconut trees
semi-full clouds
wobbling the earth
tate coming through with a plate lunch
us eating under the palms
you don't forget things like that
well
sometimes you do
young
homeless
hungover
full of life
busking away the afternoons
guitar and the word
a few dollars here a few dollars there
i was good not great
better than most
enough to eat
maybe sleep
a few days here a few days there
it halfway worked
that lasted five months
not long
but long enough
i met a girl
fell in love
got off those rainy streets
that halfway worked too
the eye of god resides
battered by the winds of turmoil
not freed from the totems of suffering
hold your cracked finger to the mirror
your wristwatch to the hourglass
fill your oceans
with the purity of the amnion
for if one suffers
must we all
the eye of god resides
crawling through the desert
soliciting verses of indifference
not pinching vainglories
of retribution
when one comes upon itthere's nothing left to extricatewhen one takes on the shapethey have become the servantnot the commander
the advisor is last to attend
first to stand before the tribe
welcoming all as neighbor
those amongst usabsent of enclosureknows no division
the eye of god looks into us all
if you're gloriously starved
you'll revert to a recital of your vision
for the hand of god is not in yours
but in those who receive it
Lorin Drexler and Beth Hyatt
Lorin Drexler is an American poet, fiction writer, musician, songwriter, and music producer. Originally from Chicago, he currently resides in Mesa, Arizona, and graduated from Columbia College with a bachelor's degree in creative writing. His work has appeared in tNY Press, LitroNY, Vine Leaves Literary Journal, Apocrypha and Abstractions, Maudlin House, and others. Lorin was also an award recipient in the 2019 Tempe Writing Contest.
