Might makes right
Make no mistake–
I am petrified.
The wires around me,
Electrified.
The cruellest of men
Broker lives to smite–
And it's no news to me,
Might makes right.
I water my flowers,
I dust the shelves,
As my history books
All repeat themselves.
I pour my coffee,
I take a sip–
A touch of crimson
On my lip.
The grip grows tighter around my throat
As I cough out the prayers and poems I wrote.
I bargain, I gamble, I rock the boat,
I am trying my hardest to stay afloat.
How did you find me?
I hid so well
In this fogged-up, calamitous
Prison cell.
I covered my mouth,
I looked away
How did you hear
What I didn't say.
I covered my mouth,
I swallowed my tears,
My ears take in nothing
But white noise.
I'm forgetting the sound
Of my own voice.
*
*
*
Round two.
Back to square one.
Ground zero.
It's all nice and neat in your folk tales,
But I'm no hero.
A grim parade of dead souls
Lined up to bite the dust.
Russian roulette at its finest,
A blood-soaked conveyor that won't rust.
Orthodoxy. Autocracy. Nationality.
Give me a bloody break.
More like:
Sell your soul to the missiles
And burn at the goddamn stake
Collateral damage my god,
I was born with a bull's eye to beat.
Comes with the territory, and trust–
Standing your ground on my land is no mean feat.
Dark circles under my eyes.
A glazed stare.
I say all the right things,
But I don't care.
I stopped writing letters,
I ceased to demand defence.
I'm a shell of a person, they say
I don't take offence.
Potemkin village and nothing more
I've seen the damage, I know the score.
The grip grows tighter around my throat.
How do I manage and stay afloat?
How did you find me?
I ran away–
You beastly, insatiable,
Bird of prey.
It's never enough.
You're never done.
You feed on our flesh,
And you've barely begun.
I scheme, I connive, I rock the boat,
I can hardly remember the verses I wrote.
My ears take in nothing but white noise,
I'm forgetting the sound of my own voice.
*
*
*
Make no mistake.
Might makes right.
The foulest of men,
Trade in black and white.
I pour my coffee.
I close the book.
Someone knocks at my door–
I'll go take a look.