Jump Ship

This poem was originally published on 29 April 2016.

I stepped out of the world –
Just for a while.
I needed some space,
To see how the land lies.

So I jumped ship,
But I did not go overboard.
Mitchell was right,
You feel like swearing at the Lords.

I stepped out of the world –
Just for a while.
Broke bread with the Dustmen,
Sometime when it was light.

Holden, you had a phrase,
That makes a man out of a kid.
It kills me.
Goddammit, it did.

I stepped out of the world –
Really, just for a while,
And when I touched down,
You did more wrong than right.

It seems when I jumped ship,
It was you who went overboard,
“Trampling on the vintage,
Where the grapes of wrath are stored.”