skeleton and hourglass...

why is a cruel question

to go mad all at once is a frenzy

a tight driven whorl

boundless in an instant

to go mad slowly, is desiccation

a rock beneath lichens

desperate to hold on

a crumbled mass of ghosts

and memory given way

to the repeated rituals of the Sun

some say weathering is

the great equalizer

I say it is the paint of time

the applied geometry of intangibles

the reasons why humanity thinks

it can outthink itself

hear ye hear ye

a town crier says

with lantern in hand

ambling its light toward

the shadows as if it were

planning each invasion of the dark

any street can meet my expectations

before the cannibals inside me

become so hungry they mete me blind

I desire things slowed down

permanently spooled perhaps

a stopped elevator of emotion

somewhere between doors open

and the portage of desire

homeless is only a state of mind

just as feeling comfortable in one’s own skin is

perhaps reason left a long time ago, wisely

laughing at me when I crane my neck

to wish silently against the sagging stars

through the clouds

you are another anointed savior

on the other side of wanting

you remain just out of reach

without a name

my pockets are empty of clues

and ready to bargain

for passage on

to where only

an eternal silence

knows why I am here

as that question lingers 

just underneath my skin

I pick and scratch, waiting 

for the bones to win

EJR ©