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| Image copyrighted - Isadora Gruye Photography |
I’ve been pissing in the river
that brings me my dinner since 92.
This is not a metaphor
or fuck, maybe it is.
I’ll just lay myself out and let you decide
what is muddy
what is mantra
what is cotton candy whispers
on a ferris wheel ride that ends
with carts coming unpinned
and children falling
and news cameras rounded up
to tell us what is safe.
I’ve been shoving over
gum ball machines
all around town.
Cause I like the sound of hard candy
skittering to freedom.
And the way babies laugh at it
And the way old men sneer at it
And the way some people don’t notice
because they are fantasizing
about sandwiches and wearable technology
that knows how often their heart stops
while they sleep
but does nothing to revive them.
I’ve been praying
for cinder blocks to fall from sky.
Because cement showers
bring down watchtowers.
And I never did trust the watchmen.
Or how lightning greens the grass
Or how sweat cools the skin
Or how I clean chicken in the kitchen sink
flecks of flesh and bacteria
catching in the drain stopper
glistening and perfect
waiting to spoil.
Impossible to wash away.
For Marian's prompt. The line about cinderblocks and watch men may be familiar. I used it as the last line of a previous poem but wasn't happy with it there. I used Marian's challenge to use "muddy" as inspiration and rebuilt a framework where I think it fits better.
