"If the brain feels no pain" - new work from yesterday

If the brain feels no pain

then this pain that I feel

is not from my brain

so I guess it’s from my sinuses

maybe or the little muscles

surrounding my skull pulling

and pushing from stress

and lack of sleep

and too much focusing my eyes

on the road while

driving all night

but then that is my identity

what I do and what I feel

and where I am

at any given moment

a couple of hours or more

either side of midnight

so to ease the pain

that’s not from my brain

but probably from my heart

which has taken its fair share

of slings and arrows

and cleaving blades—

I placate the dull pain

with medicinal alcohol

or healing smoke

and frankincense

I close my eyes stained

by everything they have seen

and breathe in and out

until it and I become only

the pure and simple act

of breathing in and out