Double Win

When joy pours, I write.
When joy quits, I write.

Two peaks: toast and bruise.
Same pen. Same hand.

On the first, glass lifts.
Laughter pays.
I name the light.
I name what happens.
A line, then another.

On the second, the call drops.
A door holds.
Grief sets a bill on the table.
I pay in lines.
Pulse slows.
A page keeps faith.

Between peaks: craft.
I keep a ledger.
A break frees breath.
Rhyme loans time.
Metaphor converts heat.

Wilde tapping my cuff:
If bliss fails, be exact.
If pain crowds, cut.
If neither yields; ..revise.

We win twice:
from the wine of the winning,
and from the ash that we fold into the next flame.
Joy gives.
Hurt gives.
I spend both into speech.

Reader, keep the receipt.
Tonight paid in song.
Tomorrow may pay in thorns.
Bank both.
Walk on.

F.S.F