everyone speaks in tongues
leaving traces of their sickness
in others' lungs.

and we're waking up
with bad dreams in our mouths.
tell me more about the monster
that hides inside your head.

don't you want to be alone again?
that night, the snow
when no one could name us;
sovereignty in its purest form.

now it's just glances, banter
across the water
a blur of other faces.

because everyone here is against us,
or for us, or whatever.
don't bring humanity into this.

(you are hand-made
derived from symphony halls,
guilt-wrung hands,
hard feelings, the light reflected
caught on the metal.

jesus, you're going to blind me.)

see that I was looking.
see that I'm still the same.

recognize that I'm getting worse every day.

the smell of burning tires
smoke ascending from the streets
someone call for help --
everyone's coughing.

they will forget soon enough.
what did they know to begin with?

look, I heard things too.
you don't have to smash your padlocks
we all have our secrets.