The reason for lockdown is muddy
Bricks stacked in a hole make a room
Of sorts
The roof is the sky in blue 8bit
Infinity framed to taunt a finite life;
Two lives -
A heartbeat and a tree
He cannot imagine the view from above
With his neck craned angular all day
The only way out is up

He gives his water to the tree
Leaves only drops for his prickly tongue
And when it rains he blesses the imprismed sky and drinks his fill

Green flag leaves unfurl
Climbing to search the sun
But he is brown as the muddy floor
Which cracks as the sun rises up with
Midday
Mayday, he says, remembering the boat in the Aegian - the radio spitting static
Maydaymaydaymayday

Surrounded by black water
The desert stretches on
Each wave a fist descending
Always a feast of inpotables.

Progress of the tree is measured in squints, patting the trunk, whispering lines of poetry - whole passages forgotten

How will I escape this labyrinth of suffering
Kiss the bark with prayers.

Isolation breeds desperate dreams
Teeth knocking around his head, falling to the floor
He buries them in the roots
Have one piece more
Grow tall, let me climb
The wind answers his words in the leaves
Yesssss yessssss