The First to Take his Leave

[Lawrence]

I’m going to be the first
To truly take his leave.

I will not flirt with the idea-
Clouds hang over earth

Only to pour down, but I-
I’m going to be the first.

I’ll never clutch a walking-staff
Down some barely-beaten path

Tend a fire in the woods-
Leaving people does no good.

It fails, but I will be the first
To truly take his leave.

No, not with nooses, needles,
Magic carpets, sex, or rockets

But by the buoyancy of loneliness.
Like a string-cut, transparent balloon

Pitied, set free, floating slow-
Along its empty, vertical road.

I will not pop, but go
And go...

I will be the first
To truly take his leave.