ROMAN I

i thought once it would magical
divine to lead a life tragical
to go mad in my twenties
until it nearly happened
and wouldn't it be sweet, so lyrical
to live a life delerical
till everywhere i walked my heart
pounded like a clock
and i knew fear was not my friend
end the end, health is far better
making it this far
maybe i know far better
back then
to write sad, dripping, lyrics
then succumb to tuberculis,
wan and pale at thirty would have been divine

then i turned twenty-nine