I used to fight, used to claw, used to care,
Now I just watch as I slip through the air.
Every bad choice like a hand pulling tight,
A lover that whispers, "Come dance in the night."
No brakes, no ropes, no saving grace,
Just the rush of the wind and the thrill of the chase.
Smoke in my lungs, lightning in my veins,
Who needs tomorrow, when you can outrun the pain.
I see the cracks, but I don’t even care,
Each broken promise is perfume in the air.
I flirt with disaster, I kiss my own doom,
Hell’s got a bed and it’s saving me room.
But what if the ground is colder than this?
What if I shatter instead of just slip?
What if the love of the fall is a lie,
And I wake up wishing I’d learned how to fly?
My doctor likes to see the Earth
I get a nosebleed, she’s wading the surf
Maybe off Thailand, maybe Brazil
Who’s gonna save me when I get ill?
Yeah, there’s satellites, I can always text
But she’s out of town at the smallest pretext
Running a marathon, maybe in Rome
Everywhere is her home away from home
Maybe its that she sees all the frailties of man
Maybe that galvanizes her to move while she can.
I shouldn't grudge it, but I've just broken my toe
Kicking a wall when she mentioned "Idaho".
So I’ll drive like a saint, not drag race the streets
Not eat the wrong things, not trip on my feet
Not mouth off to strangers, not poke at a bear
Not flirt with disaster or agree to a dare.
I'll use Gemini or Grok or Chat G P T
Then I'll order from an offshore pharmacy
That might finish me off and I'll complain no more
Hope she feels sorry before heading to the Jersey shore.
(note: she really is a good doctor, I'm just having fun here)
Does it consume my time? Sure.
My money? Of course.
My health? Probably.
My ability to think? Naturally.
Is there great risk in it? If you're not careful ...
but of course you'll be careful
even if it makes you less so by nature ...
So why?
Why flirt with disaster? What's to be gained?
Escape.
Relatively inexpensive; perfectly legal; sometimes quite celebrated.
Christ said not to worry, didn't He?
Well - here's how, you nervous, fearful fool!
And the sweet icing atop the cake -
you ease up on the reins.
You lose the mental strength
to rein in your appetites.
So you'll get your escape - and the sickly sweet thrill
of knowing that your most selfish, raw desires could gain control
and do what your right mind would be far too shamed to endorse
in the Light.
24 August 2025
finished last few lines by 8:31 AM; started the poem some days prior.
simplicity soothes me not
complication is my path
when the hour is at its darkest
is when my wits are at their sharpest
when the pain comes so does my smile
i married misery and dated sorrow
but will flirt with disaster tomorrow
for i live everyday as if it were my last
each minute is a perverbial blast
from cradle to cript and sunrise to sunset
I owe no debts and hold all the cards
my utterances are like shrapnel
piercing the heart of mankind
and binding its hands
forging a pact with insanity is my only hope
in deciphering the babble of the masses
in my minority roll all souped up
to feed the meek when time has no accord
months fly like weeks and the future is bleek
simplicity soothes me not
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.