I Cannot Remember
I cannot remember
The last time I cried;
Fingers scraped open by jagged
Stone, mixing crimson tears with the dusty
Cliffside, as the trail of thick blood trickles down:
An apple tree, ripe with fruit – their silent mockery
Shuffles the leaves and branches as their flesh rots
And decays and worms gnaw and chew
Into the depths of their soul. But they polish
Their bright ruby coats and hang on
To the tender stems for dear life,
Terrified of falling.
I cannot remember
The last time I smiled;
Under the constant glare
Of a million stars, the lone wolf
Devours the flesh and bone, ravages the heart
And liver until chalk-white splinters seizes
His throat, but he inhales and gulps and swallows
Until merely the blood-stained grass
Recalls the poor lamb’s baa –
He can’t be seen! Squeezing his ribs
And shriveling his skin
As if he had not eaten for a thousand years.
I cannot remember
The last time I lived;
The jet-black feathers of the blasted crow
Sprinkled inside the chicken pen. The audacity
Of that hellish blackbird, clucking and pecking
The dry, mucky soil, looking to burn
And ignite, to be reborn as a phoenix
In blazing fire – forever afraid of the Golden Arch,
Disappearing into the fiery sunset. Yet he will never
Wear a flaming coat or an auric tail –
Already forgetting how to fly.