grains of wet alkaline aluminum iron magnesium
separately suspended and adrift
settling in bonded tetrahedral and octahedral sheets
attapulgite beidellite dickite halloysite illite kaolinite
montmorillonite nacrite nontronite saponite smectite sepiolite
layering in soils
plastic
molded tablets bricks tiles cups pots urns
distinct
sintered ceramic earthen porcelain stone
composite
your honor you are unbalanced
your unhinged brain dangling forward toppling over
oxygen deprived
filled with misconception
an inquisitor utterly lost
disgrace hangs all about you in long deep folds
raise the stick like a hero
hold it in both hands high and mighty
hurl it clattering across the square
decide and act neither one nor the other
but both in dynamo
brook brown and rainbow trout bass and carp
rise shimmering to hatches in deep pools riffles and fast flows
of mayflies caddisflies midges stoneflies
nymphs pupa duns spinners
to grasshoppers beetles ants cicadas crickets inchworms moths
poor fliers swarms
shrimp scuds sowbugs crayfish
leeches
minnows bullheads sculpins
snails craneflies dragonflies damselflies
in eleven cubic feet per second of coldwater
through fields of corn and wheat
cathedrals of eastern hardwood and deposits of salt petre
tasters of our royal cup
in every atom
of metal in rails ships machines wheels
brick stone in streets walls foundations
wood in chairs beds tables coffins
food
polluted air
treated water
with quarks letpons bosons
interacts a greed hate fear particle
emitting waves in uncertain half-life
running soars through gravity devouring oxygen surviving
a celebrating race of power motion space.
horses master time flying in balance
god herds blossoming into thunder.
shamans pretending to know and ride
gamblers fixating on unknowables
jobbers scrounging the sweat of others
necromancers killing with thyroxinelasixnitrogenpharmaceuticals–
set the gods free
if the worlds refugees could queue to pier nine
fantasys freedom and mirages bounty
would rise in a vast choir
exhaling the pain of sixteen centuries.
if we were to stop making refugees
cinders burning straw wind
clay to park liberty saratoga lexington
a factory on fire spawned men from windows
framehouses and brickhouses exploded in lightning and thunder
shouts and cries chorused into wailing prophesy
dragons pulled wagons through smoke and cinder
firefighters labored on the edge of sacrifice
crows and vultures circled updrafts high above
soaked blankets and men eclipsed the basilica.
the kindling fire in the shavings box next to the engine room
sparked from some strange density
beneath the street
five rings of fifteeen million bricks for lateral thrust
compressing space for veins of steel
passing protein and enzyme and impulse
through limbs and organs
of the growing body of human place
wanting more power.
slowly we ride submerged in darkness and strung light
systemic
alone apart atomic
privilege
corruption
panic
depression
outrage
revolt
fascism
organization
change
privilege
