Patronize Me

Patronize Me

If

the mark of maturity 

is coming to believe 

that no one else knows 

what the hell 

they’re doing either,

and 

the job description of the poet 

is to catch patterns that occur in life,

then 

it seems as if everyone 

is playing make believe.

Like a description 

written

on bathroom walls,

a stall

can't be enclosed 

when the world is watching,

a poster 

speaks to me 

as I stand and pee:

THERE’S NO SUCH THING

AS COINCIDENCE.

Deja vu 

can sometimes 

be a clue 

when a person recognizes you,

but when a face 

can’t be paired with a name

the remedy

is another beer 

on the way back to your seat

to realize that overthinking 

caused more than the fall,

similar to when 

a public speaker

uses a crutch word like, “Um.”

Or 

over uses filler phrases 

like, “Pretty much.”

Because 

when a stutterer 

begins to dwell 

on what he shouldn’t do

inevitability becomes

the most likely occurrence,

a twist of fate

to remember that Total Recall

wasn’t about Schwarzenegger,

but brought the memory to mind

of a comedian by night

and troubled soul by day

from the bathroom poster hashtagged: 

#PLEASENOTICEME.

All the small things

add up to something,

but being averse to numbers,

in the past 

I have tried to deny

that nothing happens by chance,

because everything,

instead,

happens for a reason,

but I don’t know man,

the equation doesn’t always compute to belief.

Due to wear and tear

a seasoned fighter

can no longer decipher 

between red or green,

a stop and go balance

in thinking that heroes 

should come in all shapes and sizes,

but they must always wear black,

because 

it’s only after entering the darkness 

that a man can come back 

and say, “I walk the line.”

Chaos versus order 

blatantly clear 

when the wealthy man in the front row

tries to buy a drink 

for the woman who just finished her song,

passing by him

she clears her throat,

respectfully says, “No,”

and walks to the bar

taking the tips out her jar

and buys a round for the whole place.

Don’t you see the difference

between what we are

and what we could be

as more than just blind hope 

and that the distance

is as close 

as we are willing to make it,

what about the courage 

that it takes to jump 

from the old 

to the new

and the thought that maybe

no one is coming to save you?

Patronize me.