them rattling dirty hours

when

night melted away

and

the sun boiled up

 

and we were

there

inside

ripped

torn

straight off the

bone

 

them days were

hard

but essential

deadly but

so on fire

 

them days were

slow and

vicious

new and

easy

 

we were doing something

inevitable

reaching out from

our mad youth

 

and we might not have

made it

we might not have

escaped

 

as the daylight

searched for us

pulled us

free

 

them days burnt

left scars

but

I won’t

miss them

 

I won’t

regret

a thing