The Pessimist’s Guide To Life

Life advice, pessimist-style. Photo by Kari Shea on Unsplash

One day, this steel stormy sky
will rip the tail off and you’ll feel the bitter
cold wind, the not-yet-spring awakening
of a life turned upside-down
reverberating in your skull like a migraine - 
so cold but you can’t even shiver 
cause you’ll fucking lose it.

(The details don’t matter; it’s all the same story – 
tragedies are merely square tiles
on the chessboard and who gives a damn.)

You can beg for the why, you can take the holy part
of yourself as if it is a moon wrapped in brown paper
and light it on fire, sacrificing it 
to small gods. But you’ll learn the universe 
never gave a damn about religion or rain dances,
that rationality is a cruel comfort. 
Fewer days remain,
transient as the wind, so,

you might as well savor 
the short-lived relief of small exhilarations 
to bandage the cracks - jump on the diving board
and let yourself fall - you have nothing else
to hold on to. Let what sings
like angels when you read it 
linger on your lips 
like a long, slow kiss, 
like it’s the best pizza 
you’ve ever had.

***

dVerse. Last lines taken from these pieces I wrote in 2022:

1. Volatility
2. Survival Instinct
3. At The Top Of, What, Exactly?
4. The Ugly Days of Late February
5. Cover Up
6. Soft Hands
7. Self-Portrait, Depressionist-Style
8. Gratitude [and Life Update (sort of)]
9. Story of a Failed Marriage
10. To All The Politicians
11. Limits on Representation
12. Watch The News
13. Judaism is a Religion of Symbols
14. Your Plans
15. Drought
16. If Sufficiently Desperate
17. You’re Not That Young
18. Time in a Forgetful Universe
19. Going to the Mikvah
20. I‘ve Written This Poem Before
21. Bedrock
22. When We Bear Witness
23. How To Write A Poem
24. Unpopular Opinions of Thesauruses and Penises
25. To Keep From Unraveling