All the World & Cassie

Living dangerously is
better than being alone
I tell the quiet hitchhiker
who I picked up far too close
to the new female prison.

No dreams yet of mermaids
unseen in these deep waters
crying for rescue missions
in dark turbulent waters
where regrets come in waves.

When I think of Cassie
real and imagined
everything that was said
In hints, jokes or gestures
as she poured me whiskey
in her bar with a smile.

Where for a few dollars
I could always count on
the toothless Puertorican lady
telling me the same fortune
I'm beginning to doubt
of great riches and love

Where the homeless vet laughed
at New York rents higher
than he was, parachuting
on brown heroin into enemy fire
in that war in Southeast Asia
I always bought him a drink
But don't see him anymore.

Too often these nights
I walk in the same circles
that still promise me less
than all I took for granted
and lost without honor
or the gain of victory.

But those times with Cassie
when I laughed at boredom
pole vaulting past blurred
faces and dark lipstick lies
taking home just her laughter
echoing still, years later.