the fool’s back pocket…

the most likeliest of explanations

i don’t want to be Bukowski
but I want to know how it felt
to cry for Jane
in the dark, all alone amidst
the mindless or heartless.

i don’t want to be Lebowski,
but i want to find some way
to stare unconcerned
when the rug, the car
and the money are gone.

i don’t want to be Sam Clemens,
but i appreciate the irony
of some kid watching his funeral
and tricking some dumb bastard
into white-washing the fence.

i don’t want to be Eaglesmith,
but i love it when
his songs make me sad
in that good way
like missing a lover gone forever.

i think i could have been the guy
who coined the word
omphaloskepsis,
it just feels like something
i might have done. (i didn’t.)

i might have tried not to be the guy
to lapse in conversation
when i get lost, and
think about all those things
i don’t want to be.