133

I return to the cage

to describe the ragged time

the rejected better doubt

at least a little clearer 

than the screaming numbers

the road ahead and behind

and beside

the deadly wonder

the damage I rendered

you only fall apart when you let yourself

132

I can't think

the words don't come

as they used to

unbidden

clawing their way out

before they burnt me up

131

I can't conduct myself 

in meter or rhyme

I sprawl 

crooked across the page

fingers brushing fragments 

of words

knees scraping through lines 

my unruly curls 

scrawling truths I glean

from passing glances

and that song 

you always sing

loops  haphazardly

tattooed upon my flesh