tomorrow

we will live
we
will
LIVE!

we will perform the deeds
that the gods themselves
will speak upon with hushed awe
drunk in cabs
wandering home in the night
back up to Mount Olympus
and they will not believe each other
even then
even there in whiskey haze
and in their immortal squalor of meaning
they will not believe the stories of us
us
mortals
doing things a little outlandish even for them
but patently impossible for us
should be impossible for us
but we would do them anyway
glorious in our form
glorious in our imaginings
glorious in our limitations
and in our ability
to take those limitations
make them bite the curb
and then stomp

we will live

oh Lord
we won’t even believe them
when we’re old
when we’re telling people
two generations hence
what we did
how we lived
they’ll think we’re either lying or senile
we’ll have to step back and wonder ourselves
was that just a dream
was that just a movie
we will doubt it all ourselves
until we look upon the letters
look upon the photos
look upon the surveillance tapes
look upon our fading scars
and know that actually
we lived
we LIVED!

we will have lived tomorrow
aching raw
bright fresh new
gnarled screaming burnt-out
exhausted transplendent
burning soaked ragged
gleaming divine
we will have done that tomorrow
and we will have stories
we won’t tell the children
we will have accomplished heights
and lows
that they should not consider
that the gods would strike us down
if they knew how well
a mortal could find living
and so much remain secret
even from the devil
even from the saints
times we scorched so blinding hot
no trace not even ash could be left behind
only in our hearts and minds
we will live
we
will
LIVE!

tomorrow
after I finish
all these cooking shows on Netflix