today is Rilke’s birthday

by Justin Karcher

and the café’s busier than usual. The guy

sitting at the table next to me loudly recalling

drunken heroics. Like the time he swam across

the Niagara River. His friend’s absolutely

in awe. There’s a very fine line

between being a hero and having your little life

come crashing down. A torso cut off from the whole 

worried you’ve wasted it all. Everything blooming 

most recklessly. How it starts in your bedroom. 

The loneliness is fever-pitched before it unravels

into syringed hands and barefoot candles.

Thousand echoes you want to gently push

in front of a moving car. But that’s where it needs to end. 

Justin Karcher (Twitter: @justin_karcher, Bluesky: justinkarcher.bsky.social) is a Best of the Net- and Pushcart-nominated poet and playwright born and raised in Buffalo, NY. He is the author of several books, including Tailgating at the Gates of Hell (Ghost City Press, 2015). Recent playwriting credits include The Birth of Santa (American Repertory Theater of WNY) and “The Trick Is to Spill Your Guts Faster Than the Snow Falls” (Alleyway Theatre).