they're living in flowers
up high and across the sea

while we avoid potholes
and bugs just to scrape by

the heat is unbearable
but not like the cold,
without the chance to
gather my bed
for a long slumber

this meal tastes like
ice and poison,
why would they
eat this junk?
then again
maybe they don’t

just a little higher,
i can totally reach
the brim
where the small heads
look on with glee

i wouldn’t hurt anyone,
and i forgive all the
voyeurs
for sacrificing their
time to watch me
survive

i just want to
go home

watch over the colony
shedding their lives
to pay for a lend

cover your ears
don't humor the calls
but cully the fear

"please, we are freezing
there's not enough food
our children are ill"

hush little ones
your leaders have failed
shame on the lot

this is your trial
and We are the judges
sitting on hands

my name's mort
the third
and i sell the
bombs

after hours
me 'n' the boys
grab a bite of
carpaccio

the world is ours
but never yours
without the Wheel it
stops

ring around
guys 'n' gals
we'll give you the
deal

take all you want
sure, you can
pay us back next
year

expose the fear
without a word
just show receipts
and it crumbles

sound the fife
whence you’ve found
a new tuppence
beneath the throne

watch your back
or feel revenge
bite your tongues
and swallow them

don't you forget
who’s in charge
and whoever else
thinks they are

take the name
in every land
from subtle cues
to ration life

Every time they speak
Of injustice in the streets
A silence is born

We watch the cries of widows
And hide beneath our pale skin

i used to have this
friend
we would go outside
during the days
after the bell

one game we played
was kind of like
hunting
except it didn't
feel natural

lizard brains
were easy enough
to catch and ****
without a second
thought

we would stuff their
mouths
with explosives
then find and burn
the remains

until that time he
accidentally blew off
his own hand

i think he was a delivery guy
building four, number 2
across the walk

a moped with one of those
cage attachments
for carrying food
or packages
or whatever

one time i brought over a
loose hammer found near
his bike and caught a
glimpse through the door

gray couch,
folding chairs,
table full of wires
nothing out of the ordinary
same layout as ours

white Hats barreled in
before we could react
the dog was first
then my brother
then me

guess they had some bad intel

boom.


that's it.
that's the poem.

Blank faces, hopeless dreams
Scattered down the boulevard
Thank the barren local streets
That shatter thoughts of working hard

Lonely moms, dying friends,
Barefoot children in the dark
Play behind a chain-link fence
Instead of in the park

Fast food & news stations
Feed on troubled minds
Claiming that the stipulations
Are changing with the times

These days you can’t wake up
Without that cup of Joe
Problems all those drugs shake up
Most people never know

These streets
are home to countless
rodents
emerging for a moment
to feed
or breed
or just to breathe the sun

One by one line up
for the chance to
make something
out of nothing

Who are they and
where do they go
while the city refuses to
sleep

Doors to endless lands
line the avenue
each its own portal to the
unimagined

A family of four
with the yapping mutt
or a lonely cat lady
whose entryway wreaks of *****,
a drug dealer
door slamming
every hour on the hour
or an empty snowbird's nest

On the surface
everyone pretends
they don't have a hole to
crawl back to
or walls that know
every night

But below the sewer grate
a world filled with
the stench
of what could have been a
good day

Many a barkeep can
shed some life
on these drunkards'
rat king
or at least a story of those who
made it out

Once or twice it'd be grand
to see the bottom of a martini glass
left with a sip or two
instead of the casually tipped
lipstick-clad cocktail,
drained of doubt and despair
until morning warms the
frozen dreams
of those retired to
a paradise unknown

the hate
comes from every angle
but mostly from the heart
in spite of glaring
desperation
that leaves the
lawn uncut;
as if littered driveways
and starving dogs
justify another term
of stolen wealth