The fair light peaks at dawn

this heart flattered by the rush

another perilous tick tock

another band of blue

in a seemingly endless veil of gray

say something for once

say something that is real

There’s a motion in the air tonight

as souls weave and collapse

through American freedom Tees

 the land of liberty

stitched up tight

with fence posts and signs

restricting passage

I am Tulia

 I am Cortez

 I encompass every soul

 and every broken bone

I’ve penned every sad song

 with a pair of scissors

and a blow torch

cutting, yet mending

every carnival light

reflected in her eye

the sound falters

 from a laugh, to a whisper

to an eternal sigh

Gasping breath in some lonely dream

 until I land alive beside her

when the fair light peaks at dawn

and with it

a brand-new day

 making her more beautiful

 than the one before

but not me anymore

So back down in the shadows of the pines I troll

 the bleeder bell tolls

 I am running over the land

as cold mysteries of life

 lunge ever closer with outstretched claws

 and where would I be

 if I had fallen off that mountain?

Not here, not anywhere

hiding my fear in a bell jar

pasting it shut with hoarfrost

a crystal icing so cold and clean

a white glaze with her imprint

frozen, forever

 The complicated clock

ticks recklessly

tossing time into a volcano

feeding Buddha bedtime snacks

cold strawberry cobbler

 mad, hot liquid drinks

Have I done anything remotely close

to what the Red Soldier has done?

I think

smoking cigars at a toy train station

 bring me my luggage

 I am going home with her

We smoked our last cigarette

on the train ride to New York

 it was 3:35

and the sky was losing its shape

 and I was losing mine

returning to the womb now

 to swim in mother’s blood

I’ll come back out and start all over again.