Look Around

The black and white T.V. matched up with all
the photos hung around it like the room was
dedicated to the past. Steep hills climbed up
with wooden stairs that have been there since
the high school’s first enrollment.
All towns must have their place like this
where the tragedy is stored,
like an old man’s darkest gem beneath
the floorboards.
A port is just a place for one to stock up
on supplies needed for travel and these
stations, with their region granted nicknames,
are what that notion is to me.
You will not see far on these curvy roads
built vertically and without mercy on people
hazy at the wheel. Barriers of steel hold back
the rejects that cut turns so wide
you cannot get around it.
The ground is different than the floor
because some floors are only reached
by pressing buttons with an arrow pointing up.
Like someone with a cheap car that rebuilds
it every weekend maybe this will be the time
the wrench will come down hard enough
to make the engine burn.
So many now are tired of being told we have to
wait our turn, and that the symbols
they all serve deserve our patience.
There is a tree out in the ether that can only
only drink the blood from rebel sacrifice
and it hasn’t rained in far too many seasons.
There is a snake that camouflages itself within
the spirals of our minds and in its fangs
there is a poison we call violence.
Too many times we have torn down these walls
to make the same mistakes as those before.
Just one more phase in this parade,
the same revolving door.
Let it out because it’s heavy and there is no
holding back, but there are two paths
in this free fall we can take. The first
is where we are right now with fire and fear
in all our towns, and while the blame is not
the same on every side, only one can halt
the answers we have fought for.
We all want more
from this old world, that we have let slip from
our hands, like the endless broken promises
that weigh on everyone of us, afraid.
The second way is just to realize that the truth
will always surf on waves of love, and bring
creation as the purest rain we’ve ever gotten
from above. We will see each other again
long after all of this has come to pass
and the stories we’ll remember are the moments
we were here for everyday.
I don’t want to be anywhere other than where
this crazy current takes me, along with you,
so look around
and make amends because the view only
gets better through the pain.