the story of civilization
is a wonderful thing.
it is hospitable. invites
you to its cozy kitchen,
serves green vegetables.
dessert is to your liking
in its home of skulls, roses,
cave walls glowing with
copied forms—of animals,
copulation, divinity.
there is a fireplace
and soft music that
turns loud sometimes.
but there is also sex,
when nothing else matters.
the radio becomes visible
to everyone with a thumbs-up.
howsoever snakes slither
or friends blog in laptops,
guns blow off, also bombs.
people win, people lose.
some pray, or measure sunsets.
comfort zones expand
but so does the stretch
between roof and ground.
when storms pass through
we are all and the same
in the malls and parking lots.
and soon we’ll fly, by ourselves,
to escape floods, beasts, love.
Montage Vol. 11 • September 2008
