the laughing heart
     your life is your life
     don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
     be on the watch.
     there are ways out.
     there is a light somewhere.

     it may not be much light but

     it beats the darkness.

     be on the watch.

     the gods will offer you chances.

     know them.

     take them.

     you can’t beat death but

     you can beat death in life, sometimes.

     and the more often you learn to do it,

     the more light there will be.

     your life is your life.

     know it while you have it.

     you are marvelous

     the gods wait to delight

     in you.

     Charles Bukowski