If a man drinks to excess, he dies early.
Drinking in moderation will protect his heart.
If he does not drink, he dies of loneliness
and, so, I struggle with decisions, a cigarette
blowing thin party ribbons across the room.
People sometimes explode their hearts
white lines blurred from zero to boom.
Others know how to mellow in the weeds
opting for embers over flames.
I listen to peddlers of immortality.
Some folks eat chicken wings to prove
they can eat more than anyone else, faster;
other folks sit with legs crossed for days
eating air and thoughts and empty dreams
while I chew on anything with juice.
My father spent his life saving people
while I tried to figure out how to save my own.