Hecale

A Portal For Writers


At the Center of Us All


And it seems that so much trouble
comes from expecting too much
of ourselves and of each other

I believe the best way
is to forgive
as much and as often
as possible

it's true we are rarely
good enough
or kind

we are broken things
our lives littered
with unfinished novels
and abandoned plans

and at the center of us all is the void

given the circumstances
is it any wonder that at the end of the day

we are cranky and empty of love

wanting only drink and sad music
cigarettes and the sound
of distant traffic

maybe the company of a stranger
who knows
no more of us than we care
to tell

and the gentle fog of evening
in which with any luck
we can be lost.



©William Taylor Jr. 2008

How We Break


And if the god you believe in exists,
have you considered
it could be he tortures not out of malice
but simple curiosity?

As a child

when I put the sow bug
in the spider's web

when I put the spider
in the mason jar of ants

I harbored no hatred,
I bore the creatures no ill will;

I was only playing with toys.

And if some thing that created us
raises us to great heights
only to let us fall

perhaps it is born
not from a desire
to punish

but merely to see
how we break.



©William Taylor Jr. 2008

Continuing


Sometimes I feel a guilt of sorts,
for continuing on without the dead.

Say, when I am eating a sandwich
or looking at the sky,
and then realizing these are things the dead
can no longer do.

It seems somehow selfish
and a bit rude, like staying at a party
after the friend you came with
had to leave.

It's a silly thing perhaps,
as I do not know if the dead care
one way or another,

and I will be
of them soon enough,

but still.



©William Taylor Jr. 2008