I have been down for the count so much,

Pick myself up, make another comeback.

What is Life but a bucketslop of setbacks,

Emotions, bad moods? Cut me some slack,

Hit the WaltWhitmanJackKerouac

Open road, give up the city & head South,

Another day of sifting thru false motions,

Left, right, right, left, uppercut, crouch,

A power fist in the face, another kick

In the teeth. Rejections up the old wazoo.

Nearing the midcentury mark,

Too many pounds to carry. “Come back

Tomorrow, don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

Yeah. May I live so long! The bell is ringing,

Crowd cheering, put in the mouthpiece,

Stand up, pound the gloves together, fling

Myself toward the center of the ring,

Chanting the battle-cry: No peace!

Merely bleeding from the nose & mouth.

No Peace for this boy until he is dead. Ouch!

That hurt. Take another & another &

Another, hit the canvas like a duck.

10-9-8-7-6-5-6-7-8- An infinity ring.

Hey! Wait! Listen to them birdies sing!



Louis Phillips’ recent poetry publications include The Domain of Silence, The Domain of Absence: New and Selected Poems (Pleasure Boat Studio, 2015), The Domain of Small Mercies: New & Selected Poems ], Volume 2 (Pleasure Boat Studio, 2017), How Wide the Meadow (World Audience Publishers, 2019).