Ashtray Monument
Blake Schwarzenbach
Free, alone. The predawn white light's coming on.
Bottle on the night stand.
I count disasters on my free hand now.
Run for cover there's a big on e coming.
You'll be lucky if you're at ground zero.
You'll be lucky if it's got your number.
No one said that this life was easy.
Did that no one ever live a life this hard?
It gets hard. The bills are scattered in the yard.
Ashtray monument. A life spent waiting in cement.
After all, it's not that bad.
I still have pictures.
I look back at all the things that we once did.
You said, "I love you."
I guess you did.
Remember our life.
I did the dishes while you read out loud.
Best friends, strangers now.
Were our kids all we could call common ground.