Stupid, Simple Lines

Stupid, Simple Lines

in a dream
an old woman said
emptiness is the percussion of faith
i woke up
i wrote it down
then fell
back asleep

later
i woke
to imagine
i got that line 
from somebody
from somewhere
else

so
i looked it up
i couldn't find it
anywhere
so i took it
for myself
as the product
of my own experience
in dreams

before i use it
i gotta figure out
what it means
if anything
and
no matter how it sounds
if it don't mean anything
then it's of no use

so i'll think about it
or at least try
if a lot of other dumb shit
don't crowd it out
hopefully not
cause it'd be nice
if that line
coerces
even more

maybe it will
maybe it won't
supposing
if ya find it here
then it didn't

if it didn't
maybe it will later
in which case
here
is where i feel
it needs to stay

if it finds
its home here
but turns out
to be more
then 
the sidewalk magician's tricks 
come into play
casting it
as something else
with luck
maybe as good
or even better
than it is
here

oh
these stupid
simple lines
offering hope
some perverse
nourishment
promise
for the day
like a balding cad
the silly dandy
checking the mirror
for growth
from some
catalog
magic hair ointment
giving him hope too
with a few more strands
a bit more stubble
today then tomorrow
it might give him
the luck 
with the ladies
he so desperately
needs

these stupid 
simple lines
like a mutt
lazily
gnawing a dry bone
instead of
digging holes
or chasing
rabbits
or 
bitches

any of it
all of it
the writing
the digging
the chasing
all futile?
with nothing left
but hope 
the emptiness of faith
that somewhere
in all these 
stupid words
and stupid
simple lines
crowding out
all the other
stupid shit
that someday
an answer
might appear