they say you know this story
the walls who rise to take your clear mind
the years cement
but they don’t say whether you know how long you’ve been inside them
the road who steeps inside you may sweep
slow dreams aside to keep you standing center
inside the arm
armature and prised to stretch your skin into the mortar
shield-man
your face pulled like a demon’s into the camera
watching the trees grow out of your hate
a mirror
all gardens walled
some higher than others
the seascape inside
paint and spiderweb
pictured kaleido
all-eyes sweep but the geometry of their surveillance
hides the orthogonal inside you
spirit shy and wintering
unnamed
peer and bane crowded powder
the wrath rain
marred to make remake the sun
prisoner my prisoner
why did you come
why are you here
you stay and will not sing
orthogonal means “right-kneed”
like a cat’s
curved to sweep over the wall
so why did you make it then
prisoner warden
slave overseer
mortarmaster
bricking you up
did it amplify the ligament
limber up the spring
to make the agonylight
sweep out further than before
or did you prefer to forget your pilot
steersman shuttered
and why do I need you
autoblinder
iron ankle
crystal radio
the ratio of blood to marrow
the ratio of miles to years
the man handing the axe into the handle
garnet into the silver
