Beer Can Hands

You could put down that beer can.

You could even dump out what’s left.

C’mon, pick up that baseball,

it’s not even lunchtime yet.

Did we do something wrong?

Please don’t yell when we’re trying to sleep.

Can’t you just calm down?

Your favorite show is on TV.

O man with the beer can hands,

you’re drunk inside your soul.

Did mom put you down, or do you

frown out the window to be glum?

Those trees aren’t going to lift you

where you need to go.

Look around, we’re swarming under you

like children at the ice cream truck,

hoping for just one morsel of attention.

Waiting for our frozen hero.

O man with the beer can hands,

you’re drunk inside our souls.


(From the book Kairos)