fuzzy details

They slip past unnoticed
like carpenter ants or termites
life goes blithely by
and the roof stays above you
and the walls around you
and all is good
until the details have gnawed away
the solid base of the big picture
and it comes crashing down
around your ears

leading

What's the meaning
of this 10 dollars?
Slipped from sweaty palm
to sweaty palm.
Increased freedom? dinner?
encouragement from God?
The livings and die-ings
the comings and goings
of relationships, insects,
relatives and moneys
all come freighted
(or so it seems)
with meanings too subtle.
Upon these
(butterfly breath) meanings
I place my decisions
placing ideas on intracicies set to topple
betting on shadows and breezes
on coffee grounds and cigarette ash.
In this fickle world of faith
I place my future.

Settling

The faces of classmates and childhood friends

grow more familiar each year.

Faces and stomachs grow
Rounding up over cheekbones and trouser tops

With each pound, growing to resemble

The clerk at London Drugs,

The hotel night manager,

The owner of the corner store
That have always existed.

Stomachs and jowls sag 

weighing down their owners,

keeping them seated in office chairs and la-z-boys.