the palace of curtains

van found empty on
the side of the road and
the woman gone

the pond dragged

the passage of time

six months
and then a year
and still nothing but the
empty space between my hands

the way i tell you
i love you
but not the reasons

and how far away
do you have to stand from
the uncovered pits filled with butchered bodies
for them not to matter?

how long can a child be
locked in a cage
before it starves to death?

you need to remember that there are
people in this world who know
the answers

you need to open
the bathroom door slowly

watch the mother
drown her children

listen to what she says

words that are obliterated by actions
which is nothing new

look at the men
you've voted for
all of the sons and daughters
they've raped
or sent off to die in pointless wars

the magic of turning god
into money

this country
that feeds off both
the living and the dead

************************

originally in Drifter's Oasis