Deliberate</a> <link rel='stylesheet' href='http://arsonism.org/devaney/ndxz-studio/site/sample/style.css' type='text/css' /> </head> <body> <table align="center" width="500"> <tr><td> <h3>Deliberate</h3> <p> <small><i>after Lorenzo Thomas</i></small></p> <p class="p2"><i></i><span class="s1"><br> </p> <p class="p1">In the basement of Double Happiness</p> <p class="p1">We sit on our secrets.</p> <p class="p1">The man nearby doesn't nod,</p> <p class="p1">But opens his marked and watery eyes wider.</p> <p class="p1">I take it as hello and it is.</p> <p class="p1">His eyes are older than he is</p> <p class="p1">And he is not so young. </p> <p class="p1">It's how he looks when he looks,</p> <p class="p1">And looks good too. </p> <p class="p1">Sharp and serious, one of the older guys</p> <p class="p1">You say hello to, but never know,</p> <p class="p1">And yet know all the same. </p> <p class="p1">Smoke in the spotlight, he isn't from Philadelphia. </p> <p class="p1">"A good place to be <i>from</i>," he says, a plume</p> <p class="p1">In its progress from one end of the darkened room</p> <p class="p3"> to the other.</p> <p class="p1">So he sits;</p> <p class="p1"> then he's up, then he's stands</p> <p class="p1">Like our fifty states and minds.</p> <p class="p1">And then we're here, and he says—</p> <p class="p4"></p> <p class="p1"><i>But here's The truth:</i><span class="s2"><br> <br> <i>You have the right to keep your mouth shut</i><span class="s2"><br> <br> <i>Trust me,</i><span class="s2"><br> <br> <i>Across the room</i><span class="s2"><br> <i>A person looking like a crazy version </i><span class="s2"><br> <i>Of somebody you once knew</i><span class="s2"><br> <i>Might be our Savior</i><span class="s2"><br> <i>One who can draw fire </i><span class="s2"><br> <i>Out of ashes</i><span class="s2"><br> <i>At least a lover, maybe</i><span class="s2"><br> <i>The one to take you up a little higher </i><span class="s2"><br> <br> <i>Or let you down easy.</i><span class="s2"><br> <br> <i>But don't look this way,</i><span class="s2"><br> <br> <i>It isn't me</i><br> <p> <p><i> Thomas Devaney</i></p> </body> </html>