Intimidation

I sit with one hand curled
around a mug of sugar-free
fat-free
super-powered
chemically-sustained
instant coffee
enhancing the very life
it sucks slowly away.

From the stereo in the next room
Rufus Wainwright croons out
Leonard Cohen
the King of Darkness.
His words curl around me
a slow, sweet, unforgiving steam.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Who am I to write?