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the clouds in heaven are on fire tonight

Jon Carter

save yourself.
it won’t work.
no need to drag your own heart
thru the mud-

don’t think about it,
I tell myself...
the clouds in heaven
are on fire tonight.

sitting on the balcony
the ash at the end of my cigarette gets heavy
and drops
into my lap.

I brush it to the ground
and look back at the clouds that are
wicked red and orange glass chess pieces
shooting each other out of the sky.

are my ancestors participating in the
Holy War?
between good and evil?
what side are they on?

I wonder...

they go to war up there
like we down here, I notice now.
if it’s the same story no matter what,
why do we aspire for the heavens?

I wonder...

and if time is a lie then
we have already been judged
and you can see the judgement
by the fire in the sky tonight.

save yourself,
I mutter, crushing out my
cigarette.
don’t think about it.

I let the last hit of smoke escape
from my lungs and
let it mix with the rest of the world,
ignoring the explosions overhead.

the clouds in heaven
are on fire tonight.

save yourself,
if you can.

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