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Rubber Band Ball Planet

James Knapp

I spent all day whittling toothpicks
out of redwoods, and building them into cabins
with matchstick chimneys.

I drew skyscrapers in spray paint
on the caved-in roofs of row houses.

I used Beethoven’s sheet music
to make origami sledgehammers, and slammed
out symphony on pots and pans.

I searched for Atlantis at the bottom
of drained swimming pools.

I ran a four minute mile
through alleys, over hurdles
made of chain link.

I traded half a decades wages
for another shot at failure.

I stole priceless works of art,
and traded them to junkies
for half a bottle of Mad Dog.

I took the easy way out
and haven’t looked back since.

I sat at solitude’s doorstep at sunset,
with a forty in a paper bag, and sang
slurred hymns to no one.