Without Further Adieu
-- by Chris Stroffolino

Trudging through what you never once thought
Was possibly what didn't matter
Suddenly it hits you:

You don't have to be deaf to dance.

If I think about all the books
I've never finished,
All the dinners it no longer matters
Whether I declined or vomited back
& accept exile from the peaks as
At least necessary (if not natural),
I can keep the lid on the steam
That probably wouldn't make a beeline vertical
for the sprinkler system afterall.....

Because your art has told me something
About you that you don't know,
Because every man who's touched you
Has left a tattoo.