Line breaks within the piles
of weeping wombs, where the deer
and the antelope play Mozart
and polish with brooms,
when the maid has forgotten
her day off and you're left stranded,
perplexed within the certainty
of your own death, and the flowers
that were brought,
too late.

Keeping up with the cruelty
of Time is no small affair;
running ragged underneath
a vagrant moon that remains
impassive in the face of your
demise, counting backward
by tens, and the plumber has
mastered the scream of the violin.

It's better, perhaps,
to not look into the sky,
witnessing your life as it unravels
amid the flotsam of clouds
that melt like butter
with the passing of the sun,
fading like the day,
along with the failing
drumbeat
of your
own
                    
rebellious
                        
heart...

R.C. Mandeville