LiftOff

Sorry if this bothers you
in your casual pose
atop a freezing tombstone
where the crows hold on
to crooked branches
bending in
like they were captured
by a vortex.

The apple cores stick
out the most with hints of red
caught in the trash piles
left for days out there.
Cardinals watch the ruined
fields where everything
that grew was cut apart
to test the sharpness
of the silver wind.

Red eyed dogs choke
on chain collars tied to oak trees
with no remaining leaves
in an attempt to make a break for it,
and drink from all the puddles
in the city.
Spray painted names on bridges.
with no remaining context
left in memory, never fade
the way they should,
and still remind us all
that some things
slip away.

We are two people afraid
of what we could say
to each other,
and we are staring
through the windows
of opposite airplanes
going as far away as possible.
Cirrus clouds that
taste a lot like vodka
mist the glass up
leaving nothing
to look back at,
and then the pills kick in
to help you fall asleep.