Attention I sought 
bravado I had 
a false cockiness 
a thin layer 
hiding the hurt
pompous and pomade 
things I thought 
just might attract 
but did not 
rather they distracted 
so goes window
dressing and pictures 
putting on airs
to sell and 
not to invite 
now I am 
what you see
and little else 
this little me

I have 
been lost
but found
not my
way back 
but forward 
for the 
hands on
the clock 
I am
only ever 
move in
one direction 

After a lifetime 
and then another 
a new one 
but this one 

is my one 
my only one 
to do as
I see fit 

absent of others 
except for myself 
and this new 
is new now 

Maybe it was 
the ring promised
or the ring
that jingle jingle
not to answer 
maybe it was 
the toll in
some off tower
pealing it’s ring
warning of wars
or some catastrophe 
maybe it was 
the ring left
behind on sink
or tub it’s 
the ring that 
stays after everything 
else is gone 

The last went 
I closed shop
cleared out inventory 
and sat quietly 
taking stock nothing 
left now but 
memories some messy 
some pleasant but 
most just memory
memory of days 
and of nights 
and of things 
found and lost 
and very few 
that I kept