The Meek

I

I live alone.                    

                    In a cramped apartment.                    

                    On a forgotten floor.                    

                    In a run-down building.

                    In a shanty town. 

                    In a shanty town.                                      

                                                Where I can't look up.                                      

                                                And I won't look down.                                      

                                                And where I live                                                    

                                                                           blindfolded.                                                   

                                                                           Blindfolded, 

so I can keep what I have,                                 

                                        which isn't much,                                                   

                                                              I am afraid,                                  

                                        not much at all.  

A few old books. 

A black and white TV,                            

                                    a broken up bed                            

                                    with a rotten mattress.  

And an old lighter                         

                           which I found                                       

                                                    long ago,                         

                           and that doesn't work,                                                

                                                          sorry to say.     

But it gives me                      

                        a sense...                                  

                                           of class.                      

                       Just a touch                                   

                                           of class,                      

                       a mere hint                                  

                                          of class.                                            

                      Yes,                                                 

                            class,                                                  

                            class.      

And I don't smoke.    

II

 I walk in small steps. 

I drink in little sips. 

I don't rush things. 

I don't tempt fate. 

I can afford to be patient. 

I can afford the wait. 

Yes. I can afford the wait.  

So I don't take risks. 

I don't play the odds. 

I don't push the limits. 

And I make uneventful  my days, 

and work in predictable ways.     

Very predictable ways. 

Easily predictable ways.  

I die a little bit at a time. 

Just a little bit at a time. 

Only a tiny bit at a time. 

I can afford the wait. 

Yes. I can afford the wait. 

Death is never late. 

Never late.