mmmmcccxii

reversal of misfortune

old school optimist
turned cynic after
years of bad luck.
this after nearly

a long enough life
that was a steady
vector angling ever
upward at just a

steep enough grade
to maintain giddy and
hopeful. until bingo!
voilà! everything’s

perfect. which lasts
a year or two or three
until seemingly over
night perfection

vanishes. every day
thereafter is a series
of jabs, bam! clocked
in the jaw by blow

after blow, each
with increasing
severity until near

submission into a

nightmare of tragic
existence.  and faith
is nothing but a
chronic irreversible

illness and that

sweet memory of a
smooth escalator
ridden skyward 

is flogged into 

a vividly colorized 

dream, a mere 

fantasy.  its presence

and my part in it
all but uncertain. how
to believe i was once
the beloved star of

such a tale, accustomed

for so long now to the
bleak tornado that’s
turned that distant

past into all but
non-existence.
what a difference
a day can make,

except, however,
i won’t hold a breath,
nor allow one day’s
fortune to drag me

down into another
labyrinth of delusion.
knock on wood and
belay the craggy

canyon swelling
with superstition.
move forward
once again and

in an even
steeper
direction.
common

sense and this
unexpected
reversal of
misfortune

needn’t be
jinxed by its
most joyous
mention. and

just in case i’ll
bind my fingers
crossed as i
traverse a

pleasant night of
sleep as this fine 

day makes way 

for the next one.