#ranks
What am I
if I can’t give?
What am I if I can’t be
The best of the best,
Top of the peak,
if I won’t kneel at the feet
Of the rest of the world
That’s dry and bleak,
If I can’t climb and
claw my way up?
What can I do,
Who can I be?
If I am not
The tallest be
-ing
In a crowd of giants,
Unreliability
Is a skill or something
To get on
And trample people
like they’re
Ladder rugs
To be
The
highest
one
can
be.
Jul 18, 2025
Jul 18, 2025 at 1:44 AM UTC
I. The Beginning
In September she gave you a name
That came with weights and burdens
To break into.
Straightforwardly, you marched them.
As if it were the only thing to do.
II. The Middle
Four miles beyond the confines,
You left in the morning to gather the water.
I was told somewhere along the way you
Fell in love with the aftermath of a line,
And began a new life in its crooked symmetry.
III. The End
I don’t know if she hoped for a life of grace,
or love, mercy, or passion.
Regardless, it is all ok somehow.
There is something to knowing that, when it is over, we may go forward
And start afresh in the broken ranks.
Aug 27, 2020
Aug 27, 2020 at 11:01 PM UTC
Nations writhe in horror before them;
every face turns pale.
They charge like mighty men;
they scale the walls like men of war.
Each one marches in formation,
not swerving from the course.
They do not jostle one another;
each proceeds in his path.
They burst through the defenses,
never breaking ranks.
They storm the city;
they run along the wall;
they climb into houses,
entering through windows like thieves.
Apr 15, 2020
Apr 15, 2020 at 12:08 AM UTC
Clothing made of pure fibres.
Highly visible leather shoes.
Conduct attuned to corporate etiquette.
Words with care they choose.
If you'all are inspired by any.
Then you all should know.
Amongst the men holding ranks high.
Many have stooped very low.
Jan 2, 2016
Jan 2, 2016 at 12:41 PM UTC