too much and never enough

I was born an Extra

on and of the periphery.

A bottle of beer

wading through an ocean

overrunning the lip

of a pool.

Not a driver,

not a passenger,

I was the asphalt and the windshield.

Sup-er-flu-es

I chased myself,

not the waterfalls.

I was the dust on the hutch

sparsely there and sparing no expense.

You,

The drinker,

the driver,

the point of departure

and the final destination,

You tell me to be patient.

"Hold on a minute", you say.

My arms aspiring for yours,

"Hold a minute!" I plead.

On and of the periphery

I recanted myself

loudly, grotesquely

and as steadfast

as a baby bird,

not in the tree

but of the tree.