from the top to the bottom

bottom to top i stop

at the core i've forgotten

in the middle of my thoughts

taken far from my safety

the picture's there

the memory won't escape me

but why should i care

we're stuck in a place so dark

you could hardly see

a manner of matter that splits with the words i breathe

and as the rain drips acidic questions around me

i block out the sight of the

powers that be

duck away into the darkness

times up

i wind up in a rusted world with eyes shut

so tight that it blurs into the world of pretend

and the eyes ease open and it's dark again

in the memory you'll find me

eyes burning up

the darkness holding me tightly

until the sun rises up

listen to the sound

dizzy from the ups and downs

and nauseated by the polluted rock that's all around

watching the wheels of cars that pass

i look past to the last of the light and the long shadows it casts

a window grows and captures the eye

and cries out yellow light as it passes me by

and a young shadowy figure sits in front of a box

inside a building of rocks with antennas on top

now nothing can stop in this land of the pain

the same lose not knowing they were part of the game

and while the insides change

the box stays the same

and the figure inside could bear anybody's name

the memories i keep are from a time like then

i put on my paper so i could come back to them

someday i'm hoping to close my eyes and pretend

that this crumpled up paper can be perfect again

i'm here at the podium talking

the ceremonial offerings

dedicated to urban dysfunctional offspring

what's happening

city governments are eternally napping

trapped in greedy covenants causing urban collapsing

bullets that scar souls with dark holds

get more than your car stole

some hearts be blacker than charcoal

for real this society's deprivation depends

not on our differences but the separation within

no preparation is made limited aid

minimum wage

living in a tenement cage where rent isn't paid

tragedy within a parade

the darkness overspread like permanent plauge

in the forgotten