Issue
#4

July
2009

a poem by Wolfgang Carstens

throwing gutter balls

wouldn't it be grand
if life had bumper-rails
like alleys do when children
go bowling--so that
everybody stayed true
to their course?

just imagine,
nobody would ever be derailed.
nobody would ever disappear
into the gutter.
goals would be achieved.
dreams would come true.
no broken marriages,
unwanted children,
unhappy homes marred
by alcoholism,
meth addiction,
gambling or
abuse.

no homicide.
no suicide.
no genocide.

but there are no bumpers in life.
here, from our birth
until our death,
we throw gutter ball
after gutter ball
until finally, exasperated,
we return our rented shoes,
crumple our scorecards
and slink quietly from the alley.

© Wolfgang Carstens

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