For Better or Worse

tonight what small demon holds forth
against my happiness
what inexplicable small misery
chokeholds this night
and the delicate heartbeat
beneath and between these ribs?

the sinews breath
with every rising of the lung
the sunrise awaits with every breath
noticed or not
for better or worse
we continue the slow march
to the westward shores
mapped out long ago

there’s a magnet in the sky
that pulls us like waves
but we will not lie down
not tonight
not until the final sun
sizzles against the waves
drowning in agonyecstasy
swirling dizzying dance to death
we come

home is not in the sky but the sea
where fishes are the stars
and tides, the moon
and the elusive sun, the murky beam
that penetrates our depths