In darkness
past midnight
I sometimes wake screaming
eyes popped wide
as I worry
that I am daily
becoming Dave.

This is not who I thought I’d be
growing up in Manhattan.
I thought that I would become
someone unique
someone special
someone with their own dayglo brownstone
and a full block of property
in the Tenderloin.

I assumed
I would develop as creature different from generations before.
I thought I would be a Garth
or a Finnegan
or an Apollo.
I never thought
I’d end up a Dave.

A fucking Dave.
I didn’t dream then
I would be a worried
pensive and repetitive Dave.
I didn’t imagine
I would dance like Daves do
or date like a Dave
or dine at Davish establishments.

I thought I would be something else
but have found myself
only ever Dave.