I lead a fragile life

on the outside of aging machines

Pension & economy pay for repairs

and reconditions

all the way up to the rare replacement

I stretch the utilization

of familiar machinery

on the outside of which

I lead a fragile life:

computers / bikes / crosstrainers /

rollers / rowing machine /

roller skis / skis / anatomy

My body leads a fragile life

on the rolling & coasting

of the prayer bead of years,

like a coiling snake in the grass

My thoughts lead their fragility

on the spur of moments,

exploding like geysers

of sudden insights,

or dancing like mosquitos

in late afternoon backlight,

more irritating than welcome

My relations lead a fragile existence

on the goodwill of my patience

and the long-suffering of others

My poems lead a fragile life

on the succession of letters

and a series of dreams

inside a rising number

of stored notebooks

My compositions lead their fragile lives

on clouds, CDs and USBs,

until they're eventually spun

out of silence

by anonymous agents

inside the roaring crowds of the biosphere

The world leads a fragile life

in the frontier lands

of an Everything that was a Nothing,

even though ”was” is an unreality

that language is afflicted with