the cat thief's first incantation

the civility of, say, a car wash crowd
strapped tight around your skin
the thing you want to say one time
to a man who finally has the grace
you seek as you drive down
your own street again and again
a hammer hitting the same house
can't escape the real
of all the invisible
duct tape on your mouth
your feet bound each night
with the ways you seek hypnosis
like cable round your ankles
and tales of violence ties your hands
tight as a sunday newspaper
a world your body rejects
fast as draino or ipecac
our useless actions the spreading gas
and you see something on TV
or deep into a span of stars
and it's gone just because
no one and nothing holds your faith
and you have not been taught
well, let's believe one night
i have the powers of the moon
and you're the dark and wild
cajun swamp you've always been
you know i'm safe as a secret agent
and i talk dark and cool as motor oil
sprinkle you with rose water
turn your thoughts to midnight
take the tongues from the baying hounds
set the drums ablaze
and command you to rise
from the errant strychnine
and subtle ceaseless bondage
to dance beyond the ringing
ambitions of merchants & clerks

© CyberClem


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