when have i ever told you anything worth knowing?

train tracks over a river of
blood at the edge of winter

wolves down from the hills and the
steady patient circling of vultures

the dead and the dying
which are your only choices

your only friends

and nothing to be afraid of out here but
blinding sunlight,
wide open spaces,
the clawed hands of politicians,
and nothing to measure yourself against
but the bitter failures of the past

nowhere to hide in the endless
empty hours of the future

just lie there naked & stoned,
waiting for all of your
truths to be exposed as lies