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When home from school for a weekend,

sneaking out at night and hopping in

a van, to go drink coffee all night with

your young love

When a panic attack rains bombs on you, in

the evening, on the bus riding to work

the night the war would start

When handcuffed in a bed in the ER,

still drunk and sobbing, listening to cops,

eyes bleary and trouble pissing in the cup

with hands shackled

When parents die, and grown children marvel

in churches overwhelmed with strangers amassed,

and think of their mother or father, those

grand and lonely creatures

When they finally come home, and there are

embraces, sex and kisses, and the old wish to sleep

beside them again is consumed by invigorating

thrill, so lay awake

When there’s victory, when it’s been survived,

when it’s been overcome, and living, however

fleetingly, is the gladdest activity

Remember.