Periodically
You find yourself
Standing alone in the shower
With nothing on your mind,
but water cascading  
down the curve of your spine

I’ll bear my chest unto the sky
so strike me down before I die
I’m waiting for a certain sign
For my idols to align
We fish swim in air thick as blood
The ground instead is caked in mud
Clean this dirt from walls and skulls
With weapons sharp and turning dull
We’re under control, unwillingly
From my bonds, please, deliver me

This is the place where people come to forget that they will die one day.

They let their conscience build up on the linoleum floor in puddles,
deep and dark
And follow the crowd to the next store
And the next
And the next.

This place will bleed you.
It will tear your pockets out of your clothing
And your children’s hands from yours.

A new shirt.
A new TV.
Well done.
You’ve done well.

But when you leave the white walls
The music tinny and dim
Escalators and litter
You still won’t feel free.