fish bowl

do you still ask yourself
if it could be just some game
if we are wasting it waiting on
the wide angle take
my broken record syndrome
will never exclude you
I will pull at the corners
of a loud sky until
it starts to let you down
the mountains hold
us both in
waiting
patient as riot control

you kneel on some empty field
and can see the spirits
travel amidst those black hills

I was filled with hope today
I peeled my skin back
and saw pressure systems
forgiving themselves
rain and sun wind and heat
quelled and met with shorelines
my veins were pacified
battle cries quieted
metal slivers in the bloodstream
every morning they’re more dull

get off your knees
and walk with me
to where the dogs
will break their chains
the fences will lean
towards the east
close your eyes
and between the shadows
of the flowing freight cars
there in the yard
learn the causality
of sunlight in the cracks

lost in the thickets
the king keeps the crown on
who's left to idolize
the stars turn their chins
to miss the man
gone wrong