dismantling the dregs of serenity
night falls hard as a drunk on muscatel
everybody watches everybody comments nobody helps
columns queues lines all lined up we are all lined up
shadows separate us one from another
now that there is light for shadow
and we have seen the light [and the light is good]
rising against the petrified words of history
towers of official paper waiting to tumble
left right left right left right goosestepping into the past
it ends only if it can [otherwise hold on for the long haul
and know that history loves its long hauls]
village of town of city of tedious timeless tensions
everybody sits everybody waits nobody does anything
rushing in and out left right left goosestepping stooges
perhaps in this direction [perhaps in that]
neon smiles dimm ed by history’s deep soot
I have an insatiable taste for all this that you lack
and your heart’s the sadder and weaker for the lack of it
the nuns help the rabbis load guns for gods of misfortune
[not that they will be spared for this kindness]
if indeed gods of any kind need help or loaded weapons
and through it all dust settles on those kneeling in prayer
my feet are frozen in place unable to take me to safety
even though I feel the earth tremble beneath me
rising against the frozen sights of the past
unrequited abuse piled upon unrequited abuse
damaged fax machines piling messages on deserted desks
night falls hard as a dog without wings
everybody gawks everybody remembers nobody cares
the tough guys turn their heads last but not least
studying the scene to make their stories more believable
illuminati incognito non compos mentis
xyz syndromatic what does it all mean?
eternity in a jealous rage over the spur of the moment
you yearn for a return to simpler times
letting today slide letting tonight dri ft
succumbing to memories of dreams of raptures never lived
perhaps you know how hopeless it is perhaps not
retreat doesn’t seem to be an issue or an option
where this is concerned
demolishing the discards of bitter peace
you watch me struggle against the current
even as you drift easily with it
the mantle of memory sinking me like some dread titanic
like some terrible tar pit tyrannosaurus
shadows sinking in the twilight
gravitating to one another like the deaf to beethoven
shoving their way to the front of the line
traipsing through the lobbies of silent theaters
kindred souls at odds
tearing at their faces in blackened mirrors
everybody wonders everybody questions nobody answers
somebody says something that brings tears to my eyes
regardless of the swaddling memories
you provide like some passionate red cross nurse
everybody stares everybody dreams nobody blinks
till there is no more time to waste on games
everybody cruises everybody uses nobody refuses
somebody dies of an overdose and then returns
to tell me tales of endless bliss
everybody screams everybody jabbers nobody prays
somebody takes our picture for posterity
nobody knows how to develop it correctly
to put our souls in tissue flat boxes
somebody wants
to save us
deliver us
teach us
nurture us
develop us
encourage us
tutor us
comfort us
somebody wants
to kill us
nullify us
erase us
sabotage us
exclude us
somebody wants
you and me
somewhere else
serenity dismantled
evasion assured
