the [ups] & [downs] of a life which is lived

when a life is truly lively,
there’s no telling what.
no how, when, why.
ups are inverted instantly
into the most abysmal
downs, dismal and depressing,
only to turn back around
and around again. life,
when fed full of love, is:

   —a set of interlocking wheels and cogs,
      in which one small widget is slowing,
      soon to stop;
   —indescribable and inexplicable;
   —the eyes of the one who is loved, spying someone
      else;
   —unbending, unbowed.

we are holding a hungry
tiger by its tail, trying to calm it with the
clumsiest of our
utterances. we are
artless and pushing
for perfection. we
are hopeless yet full
of nothing else. we
are human, whatever
that means. we are
here, and that is what
we must learn to deal with.