~drifting down that rat hole~
~he don’t want to go there alone~
~so he invents superman~
~trades women sex for drugs~
~gets the boys that way too~
~the world is his his stage is his world~
~everybody wants to see it~
~make him run~
~run away~
~die rockstar die~

~angels run away~ 
Is it only our lives slipping away or some inconceivable broken covenant made with gods come to punish us for lies told.  We struggle with our dragons, harm those nearest our hearts and homes.  Is any future worth the destruction of moment, a process whereby seeking we throw it away.

Last night he slept with her, his woman, experienced a connection of spaces, armor set aside, bartered for skin on skin, become one complete, whole again.  As he drove away, his mind retreated to a forest, to a canyon, where he heard her voice first and stared into the reflection of lightning in her eyes.

Reality is his gallows of hope, a death sentence to all inhabitants of dreams.  He said life was supposed to be fun, the puppet-master, thief of souls whose strings labeled, “dainty delights” were tripwires opening drop-doors to the dungeons of fun seekers’ hearts.

When he discovered she no longer cared, he offered himself to stand instead of the murderer, stood resolute before the firing squad, life, metal on metal, click, ready, aim.  He smiled beneath the blindfold.  Bullets cannot break a broken heart.  God damn all governors and their pardons.

No prayers aloud in this room, always, forever, the whispered lies born desperate, denied asylum.  He left his child’s eyes underneath the bed baptized in splashes of mother’s blood.  Each night alone is a fresh haunting, a crippled man in a crooked room.

The boy is afraid of chickens and spiders in the outhouse hole.  Voices laughing into his blind eye face became the home of the impossible dream where the woman would come to hold him tight against her breast, keep him safe from himself.          

Angels run away, angels run away.
http://wordwulf.com
WordWulf
Inquiries: tracy@traceliteraryagency.com & wordwulf@wordwulf.com
© artwork & words conceived by & property of
Tom (WordWulf) Sterner © 

 
 
Picture
~Come Weigh the Night~

~poor folks aspire to the common~
  ~just out of reach~
  ~hunger & failure wear them down~
  ~they snarl at their children~
  ~quit bitching~
  ~you’re alive~
  ~aren’t you~
  ~the answer to that question~
  ~yes~
  ~the one deeper sadness~
  ~ready to go~
  ~never begun~

Picture
~Come~
    

~we were born gathering stones~
  ~piling them into burlap bags~
  ~hefting the bags onto our backs~
  ~toiling up steep inclines~
  ~past lilacs & hummingbirds~
  ~to the tops of modern day pyramids~
  ~where masons wait impatiently~
  ~to place stones in the wall~
  ~down we go through the streambed~
  ~dammed up & damned down~
  ~stone whistle~
  ~holding our water~

Picture
~Weigh~

~our fathers before us knew~
  ~the empirical weight of masters~
  ~hollow rewards & always~
  ~the whip & the threat of the whip~
  ~biting into flesh~
  ~mind & spirit~
  ~now the masters’ masters’ children~
  ~are the new royalty~
  ~their hands soft & born to wield the whip~
  ~we are dispatched to slay~
  ~whomever they say~
  ~& be slain ourselves past fields~
  ~of butterflies and katydids~

Picture
~The Night~

~a man feels it happening~
  ~something snaps inside~
  ~that feeling~
  ~“I can’t lift that bag o’ rocks no more”~
  ~the sly ones carry half-bags~
  ~fooling themselves, “The bosses won’t notice”~
  ~the not-so-sly fall down~
  ~literally break under the load~
  ~everybody knows what happens~
  ~to the sly and the not-so-sly~
  ~you dig that damned hole~
  ~take a rock out of the bag~
  ~use a two-fisted grip~
  ~smash it into your face~
  ~past the ant-lions and head-lice~
  ~you fall yourself down~
  ~your brothers carry you~
  ~sons cover you up~
  ~sisters & daughters~
  ~come weigh the night~

http://wordwulf.com
WordWulf
  ~good tidings, Momma~


 
 
Picture
~ poor folks aspire to the common ~ just out of reach ~
~ hunger & failure wear them down ~ they snarl at their children ~
~ quit bitching ~ you’re alive, aren’t you ~ the answer to that question ~
~ yes, the one deeper sadness ~ ready to go ~ never begun ~
~Come~

We were born gathering stones, piling them into burlap bags, hefting the bags onto our backs, toiling up steep inclines past lilacs and hummingbirds to the tops of modern day pyramids where masons wait impatiently to place stones in the wall.  Down we go through the streambed, dammed up and damned down, stone whistle, holding our water.
Picture
~Weigh~

Our fathers before us knew the empirical weight of masters, hollow rewards and always the whip and the threat of the whip biting into flesh, mind and spirit.  Now the masters’ masters’ children are the new royalty, their hands soft and born to wield the whip.  We are dispatched to slay whomever they say and to be slain past fields of butterflies and katydids.
Picture
~The Night~

A man feels it happening that feeling, “I can’t lift the bag no more”.  The sly ones carry half-bags, fooling themselves, “The bosses won’t notice”.  The not-so-sly fall down, literally break under the load.  Everybody knows what happens to the sly and the not-so-sly.  You dig that damned hole, take a rock out of the bag, use a two-fisted grip, smash it into your face.  Past the ant-lions and head-lice you fall yourself down.  Your brothers and sons cover you up, sisters and daughters come weigh the night.
 

UA-15153748-2