me sitting in your lap     fingers scissoring yours
us trying to split hairs     I never told you it taught me
the irrationality of being     I'm not sure     how nature of light
changes     when it passes through eyes but I know from physics
refraction is decisive     by that I don't mean     we're lit up
by our own darkness that's the sort of thing I'd come up with
if I worked in advertising     look I'm unsheathed     from ceilings
that once held me     like a mad chirper in the gallows
I'm only free     when I don't understand what freedom is
at my honest best     liberty is how often I mop
my washroom floor     I don't mean to belittle ideals
but I do want to bring back     benevolence into context
haven't you witnessed     the spectacle of public shaming
how ladders of civility     carry a mouth to the anus
sewer to a kitchen the inundation of the nowhere-to-go     
by floods of bile     let's say the answer is controlled passion
hidden at the root of virtue     a kerchief signaling urgent action
sky waving flag of checkered grey     now imagine a flecking cage
of paper     trapping fire forever     planet salting unusable tears
imagine you at midnight     mild bones crackling on ashtray
whispering     sleep is nice but I'd like to wake up tomorrow