"You were the best, man!"
and it's all over now
the kittens are whining in the alleys
the moon doesn't even know your name
you wondered about love
in the hard stone shoulder of the highway
with holes in your shoes
and holes in your soul
there's nothing there, Dan
do you want a ride home?

"How crazy can you be?"
wandering a 5 lane
for 5 bucks out the window
you gotta be careful with that shit Dan
"What shit?" Anything.
and it's all doom
you wonder if God has forgotten you
nothing in the sun
do you want a ride home?

and she'll stop running to the door
if you keep not caring
even the seagulls will turn against you
when you offer them bread
the ocean will spit salt in your eyes
nothin' left of the sandbar
nobody even cares if you cry
do you want a ride home, Dan?
I just can't find my keys
guess you're lost on the curb and your wrists
I remember when they understood
please don't leave without me
you gonna wipe your mess on your shorts
God needs it babe
but you just won't let him take over
even on a Sunday
ya got nothin' in your pocket
ya got nothin' in your mind
just a loaded gun
that looks like a pill case
just droppin' in
to make you say goodbye
and time is just a tick away
and you're telling yourself these lies
Do you want a ride home Dan,
cause I gotta fly

nobody left at the playground
the afternoon
just burning
through your fingers
like a cigarette
photos of people
asking you to remember the way it was
negatives sliding out of the back of the envelope
like the black of everyone
you're burning butterfly wings
and nobody ever sings
do you want a ride home, Dan?
you don't mean a thing 

I guess it's all unraveled
you're a stowaway,
a ghost
I'm asking for your own sake
you've been gone too long
it's Sunday and they're all just mowin' the lawn
and you sit there like a prisoner
and once you were a baby fawn
do you want a ride home, Dan
don't forget your hat
do you want a ride home, Dan
I can't even give you that

Daniel J. Flore III is the author of 3 Amazon bestselling poetry books from GenZ Publishing. They are Lapping Water, Humbled Wise Men Christmas Haikus, and Home and other places I've yet to see.