I lead a fragile life
on the outside of aging machines

Pension & economy pay for repairs
and reconditions
all the way up to the rare replacement

I stretch the utilization
of familiar machinery
on the outside of which
I lead a fragile life:
computers / bikes / crosstrainers /
rollers / rowing machine /
roller skis / skis / anatomy

My body leads a fragile life
on the rolling & coasting
of the prayer bead of years,
like a coiling snake in the grass

My thoughts lead their fragility
on the spur of moments,
exploding like geysers
of sudden insights,
or dancing like mosquitos
in late afternoon backlight,
more irritating than welcome

My relations lead a fragile existence
on the goodwill of my patience
and the long-suffering of others

My poems lead a fragile life
on the succession of letters
and a series of dreams
inside a rising number
of stored notebooks

My compositions lead their fragile lives
on clouds, CDs and USBs,
until they're eventually spun
out of silence
by anonymous agents
inside the roaring crowds of the biosphere

The world leads a fragile life
in the frontier lands
of an Everything that was a Nothing,
even though ”was” is an unreality
that language is afflicted with