Knee deep but still drowning

My uncle Ritchie drove me nuts

every time I wasn’t looking

he jumped into the river,

intending to drown himself

but with the drought

the water was only deep enough

to wet his knees – and mine

as I went in after him.

I’m always trying to save people

from themselves

a regular spider man

but without spider man’s reflex’s

just the usual befuddled complexes

modern super heroes have these days

too guilty to screw the groupies

after some band member dumped them

for some other, prettier chick

I just couldn’t think of making love

to a woman still clutching

and empty bottle of pills.

or the girl I liked in the old rooming house

naked expect for the red oozing

out of her slit wrists.

I’m a sucker for trying to make everything

come out all right in the end,

even my poor fool uncle who I loved
like a brother, but could barely keep

his head out of the shallow water

as I dragged his heavy body to shore

me screaming the whole time,

“You have to help me help you,

I can’t do this by myself,”

and guess what, I still can’t.