How did you get so long
was it the fruits and vegetables
the cucumbers and grapes
the broccoli corn or chard
the rhythms you followed
the passages of nights meticulous

the scoops of ice cream and sherry
the slight vinegar flavorings
the bitters and the reggae
the earth like a cozy moss meadow alone
none of the pebbles or granites or dusts

was it your mother and her sighs
her washings and her scoldings
her sky so narrow and bacon breakfasts
her nightgown in the morning hung
her coffee and cigarettes

was it your friends and the cars they drove
into walls and beaches
onto front lawns and into swimming pools
up sides of buildings and into penthouses
onto sidewalks again and into gutters

was it the lengths you strove for
or did it just happen
was it a consequence a reaction
brought by some strange music
electronic and molecular that couldn’t help but happen