"27"
I am blind.
I have left my uniform behind; now I am lost,
tempest tossed
amidst the similarly dissimilar
the unironically individualist collective
unpraying, word spraying corrective action required
An employee hiding among the fired
in the gluten free bread line
convinced in their unearned importance
of course I'm blind, even the time is not the time
it's all up for debate; facts left with the peas on the plate
undesirable ideological vegetables.
I haven't had the need to show such a sheer sheen
a shallow pond like this in years
I am unprompted, audience! Re-enacting movie scene
the singer who sang too long, now repeats his refrain in the theater
crowded in silence
Where did you all go? There were birds once, and puritans and nuts
and all sorts of colorful characters.
I was in love when this began, when my words ran into one another just like this
It's not that you're faithless
it's just that I've held on too long.
But I can't stop singing this song
these are the only notes I know
I'm still building bridges to nowhere where towns once lived
setting too many places at the dinner table, building up hope
till it washes away, my sandcastle setting
Friends,
All I can do is leave the light on.
I hope that the patterns trace back again, and strangers miraculously return to friends
Aren't we at odds and ends without each other?
How many of you could I possibly be talking to?
Is it permitted to say "All of them?"
I bang a gong
set the lights
check under the stairs
but you are not there
these travelers are like the air,
invisible.
Well, here I am.
Here I stand, waiting on the lee shore
an amiable ship breaker
waiting on the tide's roar
with friendly lantern lit
Here I sit
until you return, or until I learn how to leave
this beautiful disaster.