The bed you made is behind you now.
The list you made is lost.
The dishes and the bills remain.
Your body turns to dust.
The laundry never folds the way
Your joints no longer bend.
Do you think you’ll ever win again?
The car’s no longer parked and so
You cannot check the stove.
A voice leads you a familiar way
Down a route you never drove.
Reminders out the window of
The love you never send.
Do you think you’ll ever win again?
You’ve never been so angry, but
You can’t remember why.
Your childhood’s on the TV and
You’re high on pumpkin pie.
Someday you’ll visit Venice when
You have vacation days to spend.
Do you think you’ll ever win again?
And you have seen the perfect way to make it,
And you have thought the perfect things to say,
And you know every step that you would take if
You went a day with nothing in your way,
And you’ve rehearsed your thank you speech
For when your trials are at an end,
But do you think you’ll ever win again?
Your gifts collecting interest like
A myth collecting snow
Weigh against your plans until
There’s too much that you owe.
Someone changed the rules
And used them to lock up all your friends.
So why do you think you’ll ever win again?
© Nathan Cook 2025
The Favoring Wind 