the only thing that lasts

            for Tim Armentrout

through thunderstorms, through heat waves, stubbed toes, traffic signals, eggs and bacon
burning on the stove, cars stalling, dogs barking, women screaming, pleading,
loving, babies wailing, refrigerators dying, washing machines washing, throats gulping
down water and booze, through rotting fruit and
exercise, lawn mowing,
clogged gutters, toilet brushes, cats scratching, through television shows, dreams
rotting, supermarket lines, parking lots, dumpsters, post offices, bowling alleys,
customer service, higher education, life expectation, through roommate laughter,
through blocks, through stale bread, through isolation, through empty apartments,
through wives and pregnancy and brown bag lunches, cheap beer, broken pencils
and keyboards, carpel tunnel, through dirty rugs and dirty tubs, through good
sex and bad sex, sunshine, moonshine, through fast food and fine dining, death,
rejection letters, breakups, divorces, arguments and happy endings is the poem strong and true