Taste Relief

Oh, 
times can be tough.
They can.

And times can be rough 
on your hands 
and knees.

That’s because times like these rewind and repeat, 
and the best you can do 
is land on your feet.

Land on your keys 
when you sit down exhausted 
from looking for weeks.

Dance 
when the ground underneath is shuffling around 
with an opposite rhythm and beat.

Flirt with an obvious disaster 
enjoying the closeted giving of heat.

Live a metered rendition of life, 
a sweeter position to like.

Squeeze a petition from living ambition with vigor, 
and figure the fiction is right.

If still you’re missing delight, 
fill your mission with white little noises 
strategically placed 
like an ace 
you keep out o’ sight.

Base your belief on a fight you can win, 
not one that you might.

Taste the relief of doing it twice.

Once you get in, 
stay in with a light.

Grinning is good in the dark, 
but others won’t know what you like.

—  Mat Freeman  (2004)