THE INTEGRITY
OF THE BAG
I.
time removes its aegis
the barrier is lifted
and we become faint
our mortality scratches
like a window branch
so give us second-hand air
pandering not absolution
non-terrestrial lights, noise to sleep with
Let, I will awaken and engorge
be your mantra
You were known before birth
inheritance beyond the celestial
squandered for a gruel
A soloist before the tempest
II.
misshapen cycles of suppression and release
negate searching our forefathers’ names
our fear of the dark
a construct
for handmade shells of light
the premonition of a hundred years
of non-stories, non-matter
brittle, burning out
III.
these loose threads of the morning after
following like an abandoned language
change your perspective
embrace assimilation
or man the ramparts
for total annihilation
longer corridors
simplifying living
lingering until the last
for the hive’s bidding
IV.
ear to the ground
an officer of the law hunting his shadow
reducing his findings to clonal filament
interest depreciates
stale water laminates
the audience holds its breath for the sequel
V.
the sleeper cell
on the veneer of the abyss
lending its name
to spatial collisions
melding into one giant stain
nourishing the illusion
we are detritus
from an explosion of nothingness
VI.
consume and copulate
the haze pacifies, obfuscates
Men come under hypnosis
extend their drywall perimeter
The enclosing of the central
Versions of mimicry
anchor points from dreams
huddled together
as if compounded flesh can quench spirit
VII.
The anti-city
where light comes from a secondary source
brothers lose track of one another
consumption of flesh is permissible
Give me the strength
for another watch in the night
Replenish my lamp’s oil
to hasten the Gleaming City