Minor Tweaks to the Heartfelt Speech
of a Twenty-Something-Year-Old Passenger on the Bus

You See the Fireworks, I Their End

Such is the way of living decay —
phone in sick, watch Netflix all day,
go out drinking, and
rot.
Every moment
is a hand grenade,
a live fuse,
another step in a mine field,
an increase of pressure atop a bear trap,
a spot on your forearm that you don’t recall having seen but may be nothing after all.
It’s the looming sense of not knowing the ending
but knowing there is one.
Take the saying
“seize the day,” Carpe Diem —
Dominion over life; implies
a finite amount you can wrap
your arms around, sink
your teeth into, suck
dry.

JAMES LORD PARKER is a Toronto-based writer and musician. His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Scarborough Fair, This Dark Matter, The Varsity and other journals. James is the bassist and infrequent lyricist of the Toronto metal band, Tether. He is currently completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto and working on a book of poetry.