A battle axe
Worn as decoration
In the center of the head
Not an Indian worry dot
Nor so many bloody knuckles
A circumstance
That may perhaps start
With circumcision
Or maybe the first skinned knee
Rounding second base
Or the first sparrow
Killed via BB gun
Regardless
Though we walk through the shadows
You can see the third arm
Protruding from the forehead
Sometimes it looks like the fourth
If you count the noose
Hanging below Adam's derelict apple
Like elephants
Feeding
Or bathing
When we make contact
And shake hands
Like fiery Vishnu
Stepping out onto a red carpet
Arms swinging in time
To the universe's syncopated backbeat
Made of chopped wood
And electrified branches
The snapping and pulling sound
That comes with a hedge clipper
Or weed wacker
Or a good fall from high up
Our limbs getting tangled
With all the things we aught to grab
And didn't
All the things we shouldn't touch
But did
The burden of watering cans
And bone meal
The sanctuary of shade
But us
Shadows
We only know the shapes we make
When we recognize our hilt
And cross our t's
Pretending: Excalibur
But in actuality
Paul Bunyan may have known
Where to put the bloody body of Blue
We only know
Where to bury the axe
And make a list
Of all the things
We won't get to today
--
7.16.09
Worn as decoration
In the center of the head
Not an Indian worry dot
Nor so many bloody knuckles
A circumstance
That may perhaps start
With circumcision
Or maybe the first skinned knee
Rounding second base
Or the first sparrow
Killed via BB gun
Regardless
Though we walk through the shadows
You can see the third arm
Protruding from the forehead
Sometimes it looks like the fourth
If you count the noose
Hanging below Adam's derelict apple
Like elephants
Feeding
Or bathing
When we make contact
And shake hands
Like fiery Vishnu
Stepping out onto a red carpet
Arms swinging in time
To the universe's syncopated backbeat
Made of chopped wood
And electrified branches
The snapping and pulling sound
That comes with a hedge clipper
Or weed wacker
Or a good fall from high up
Our limbs getting tangled
With all the things we aught to grab
And didn't
All the things we shouldn't touch
But did
The burden of watering cans
And bone meal
The sanctuary of shade
But us
Shadows
We only know the shapes we make
When we recognize our hilt
And cross our t's
Pretending: Excalibur
But in actuality
Paul Bunyan may have known
Where to put the bloody body of Blue
We only know
Where to bury the axe
And make a list
Of all the things
We won't get to today
--
7.16.09
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