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You’re a War

Letting go
of how I feel
the circus floor
the roulette wheel
that steers the world
into a ditch,
dries your tears,
blows out your brains,
and makes you rich

Hitch a ride
with my dreams
show me what
true freedom means
cuz I can’t take
another day
of dead-end streets
and burning hay
so let me burn
or watch me die
cuz you’re a war
and so am I

Tethered to
this burning stake
this iron cross
this diamond lake
I’m drowning in
fills my lungs
with glowing dust
and sparkling smoke
your attempts to ostracize me
are a joke—
to be exiled,
I must belong,
but wherever I go,
I’m always gone
(that’s why I’m here)
it’s not always fun
it’s sometimes weird,
but here or there,
it’s always new,
cuz I’m a war
and so are you

Prop me up
against the grain
no one cares
about your pain
the golden dregs
we all drink,
the prayers we say
before we sink
in a puddle of
our own red ink
can lift us up
or drag us down to hell,
so choose your words
and choose them well,
cuz when our well
of ink runs dry,
our heart stops beating
and we die

© Nathan Payne
July 2015-November 2017