In Hiding

Far and deep in these iron woods we stay
awhile
compressed silence in a nutshell
falling dusk shroud the winding rutted path
mapped out before us
complacent, we gingerly step
into these tracks
too big for a lifetime to fill
with lithium drops
in passivity we chain our dreams
gaze at the world outside with languid eyes
and frozen hearts to wound our way
b r o k e n
and dysfunctional around these
perfect steps we cannot forge
or like a rapidly flowing river
rush to covert the sea
these snow white paths bleached with
ideals
that long ago dared to step over the ledge and leave
the conventional
wisdom to its own age
the muse beckons
come forward with a handful of unfinished songs
a bunch of singularities a day
we stumble along looking for affirmation in
the absence of security
the champion’s theme to mask
the blur of a world spinning its way in
to oblivion
shrill and unrelenting, expectation screeches her way
forcing us to admit we are lost
where are you going, where are you going now?
4.30.97