for Coley Campany
In the event of my life
let me be known not for what I do
but for what I dance to
and what I fight for.
In the event of my life
let me outlive everyone
my death would crush.
In the event of my life
send me nothing but great souls
to be part of my non–blood family.
In the event of my life
give me enemies
who will always commit rookie mistakes
and friends who will forgive me
whenever I make mine.
In the event of my life
please let all the sex I have
leave a crater, like make-up sex
after an angry shouting donnybrook
where we both scream unforgivable things
and go at each other like crocodiles on crack
but without the fighting.
but without the fighting.
In the event of my life
give me health over fame.
In the event of my life
let what I am looking for find me
even when I’ve given up the quest.
In the event of my life
if what I’m looking for doesn’t find me
let me be wise enough to see
and appreciate what does.
In the event of my life
surround me with people who share
the correct opinion about biscuits, dogs, key lime pie,
and The Wolf Of Wall Street
which is such a gigantic pile of shit
that it can single-handedly fertilize the Gobi Desert.
(and Kylie)
(fuck ‘em if they don’t like Kylie)
In the event of my life
let me give birth to something every day
and kill a bad habit once a week.
In the event of my life
I want a guarantee in writing
that every time I talk to a friend
I haven’t spoken to in ages,
it will be like picking up the thread
of a life-or-death conversation.
In the event of my life
remind me to always say goodbye
like I’ll never see you again.
In the event of my life
give me contacts when I’m young
and talent when I’m old
because the other way around
is death.
In the event of my life
In the event of my life
keep me away from people
who don’t make an effort.
who don’t make an effort.
In the event of my life
don’t ever let me give
more than I'm going to get.
In the event of my life
if there’s a choice between being oh so smart
and oh so pleasant, let me
recommend pleasant.
recommend pleasant.
In the event of my life
remind me that this body I was born into
is no more who I am
than yours is you.
In the event of my life
let me apologize less
and forgive more.
In the event of my life
please God make sure I do NOT
repeat my parents’ mistakes
but make my own
because new mistakes are progress.
In the event of my life
I want somebody
to put all my victories and defeats
in the same box
and then blindfold me
and challenge me to tell them apart.
In the event of my life
if I'm going to get hurt
let it happen because I acted out of trust
and not suspicion.
In the event of my life
if I'm going to get hurt
let it happen because I acted out of trust
and not suspicion.
In the event of my life
keep me the fuck away
from people who say “110%” or “150%” or “200%”
like it actually means something
because I'll kill them
I swear to God I'll fucking kill them and their dogs
and feed them to their grammar school math teachers
so watch it.
In the event of my life
give me the pride to own my gifts,
and just enough self-assurance
to undermine my insecurities about them.
In the event of my life
let my laugh be the cause
that laughter is in other men.
In the event of my life
give me the courage to leap
and the faith to survive it.
In the event of my life
let me live only and always
in the arms of whatever I would die for.Copyright 2016 Matthew J Wells
3 comments:
In the event of my reading this poem may I live to see more and more and more of them daily.
So good Matthew! Reminds me of Leonard Cohen's meditations. Beautifully said all of them. I tried to come up with some of my own to add here but I couldn't compare. Thank you!
i liked the sex part the best, so maybe i'm shallow, but I think that stanza displayed the metaphor of the whole approach which is an attitude toward life that is repeated sometimes in the other stanzas to less effect.
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