mirror move

my leg is broken, being dragged across the uneven pavement
i'm a tortured sole
to let it breathe would be stifling
i'd choke on that freedom
i'd hide in open spaces
biding my time as time erases
the act of treason
i'd plead guilty before the hammer falls
before it's even risen
no need to stand
or lift your hand
i'll keep mine folded in
mirror like movements
anticipated and fraudulent
keep it folded in
tucked away in your jacket pocket
never to be picked
held tight to your breast
keep it folded in
fabricated and adjacent
mirror like movements
before the thought's conceived
you'd plead innocent before the mouth bleeds
the act of treason
biding your time as time erases
you'd hide in darker places
you'd choke on that suspicion
to give release would be trifling
you're a tortured soul
my leg is broken, being dragged across the pavement

it's even now

The Grass is Always Greener

i fertilized the soil
with what was left of you,
and as i raked up the leaves
last fall
i couldn't recall
which remnants were from the trees
or from that of a man,
so i dispensed them
into the same steel can,
and it made no difference
at all.

the grass has never looked so green.

- afm

Unmoved to the Tune of Being Removed

There's nothing you can say
To turn me away
My hair will become peppered gray
Or fall out
Before I ever find the door
It wasn't me you were searching for
But here I am before you
A statue
Unmoved

A body tangled in
This hollowed skeleton
As pallid as you've been
In relation
The sun will never shine
On the colder side
'Twas the heavenly divine
That divided
Me from you

You can turn the other corner
You can outline all the borders
Don't cross 'em if you dare
If you dare to, they'll be removed
You can turn another corner
You can chalk up all the borders
It's just my body
Adjust my body and the tune
You carried it to

The Alex Show - Episode 65

Young and blissfully ignorant, I gaze up into the sky.

"God is taking a picture of you. Smile!"

"Cheeeeeeese!"

Lightning strikes, illuminating the darkness, vanishing in an instant. If not for splitting the earth we would never know it occurred. Nature is as dangerous as it is beautiful. Though presently aware of its risks and repercussions, we continue to carelessly bask in its splendor.  The field we stand in, however, has been burned. We move onto the next.

The storm is subsiding - or at least moving onward - and it is impossible to keep pace. A new device is needed; assembly required. We chase it with steel rod in hand, but to no avail. We acquire other man-made objects and a few good meters of string, something to tie it all together. Take wind, reach up, and pray for rain. Nothing. We rise up from the ground. The storm will come. It always does.

The chase continues.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone. The same idea applies when you reverse it. What you don't know won't hurt you. What we don't have can't either. For centuries we were chasing storm clouds, now we're running from them. Little did we know, it was safer where the field was burned. After all, lightning does not strike the same spot twice.

Old and wistfully enlightened, I gaze up into the sky.

"God is taking a picture of you. Smile!"

"No, that's just lightning."

- afm

The Checkered Crucifix

train-spotting
under the flashing lights
tracks are rumbling
hands held tight
to the armrest
beneath the checkered crucifix
our souls sit
as we wait for it to rise
permission to persist
the tires tread
the metallic lines
creating a spark
but never starting fire
to the checkered crucifix
patiently still
we cling tighter
aware of how easy
it would be to circumvent
any minute now
is a constant reminder
of its insignificance
anticipated, repeating
for life is as fleeting
as the train now retreating

we are ready to cross
the crucifix is risen

- afm