It doesn't matter like the pope matters
to himself Today I am one bad thought
after another People buy fake deer
and put them in their yards Does it matter
how calmly they stand for days or forever
Everything happens for a season
or else it is a lifestyle Lifestyles don't matter
like the pope's name doesn't matter
like his hat stands above and for him
It's raining again Weather is just
condensation and history Someone says
have your cake and eat it too
like there is another use for cake
and it doesn't matter Soon it will stop raining
and after that the rest of my life
won't matter like the pope is forever
The history of anything is weather and time
That a human can survive everything
but himself doesn't matter History
runs from the long bones of its shadow
The pope is not weather or time Everything
is thirst One must drink water forever
Ted Powers is the author of Please Light Up (Slope Editions, 2015). He attends the University of Massachusetts Amherst MFA Program for Poets and Writers. He is the Assistant Editor of jubilat. He teaches at the Juniper Institute for Young Writers. More can be found at tedpowers.tumblr.com.