DEAD TIME AHEAD

Since time and tide wait for no man,

we must get ready for today, tomorrow

and the day after, ready to untangle

the knots tightened under falling rocks

from the ominous corners of the world.

Bodies no longer touch,

imprisoned by bullets

ricocheting off muted walls .

Get ready for the pot boiling over

and the sun not rising

in a world that thrusts us over

the edge of the abyss.

We freeze in battle-scarred snow,

sneezing and coughing up blood,

draped in straitjackets by enemies

we thought were our friends.

Arrogant tyrants of the world

drown our heads in ice water,

and gouge out our eyes

like Ivan The Terrible did

to his architects. so they wouldn’t

build anything more beautiful

than their design for

St. Basil’s Cathedral.

Greed creates mass grief never seen before.

They force us to endure ECT against our will.

We wet our pants

and forget who we were,

becoming mere skeletons

rattling on a string

with empty sockets

where our eyes used to be.