follow the tracks

she cauterizes and hot-wires

set the earth back on fire

a cheap date and a good liar

clean bones bleached brighter

westward trails can’t stay his hand

break his jaw when it looks like you can

blood on the desert blood in the sand

follow the tracks of beasts in the land

look lonesome like burned down

he’s got it made, his fake shout

and lies to sift over town

desperate for whats been taken out.

something above him like a vulture but worse

held his hands out and caught it like a curse

all at once centuries of thirst

a hundred seems just begging to burst

oceans

oh my good grief I remember the days

when we watched a storm move his bright life into shade

standing motionless, eyes wide and colorless

hope against hope against hoping for a reset

reach for each other

take a breath and take cover

some of the colder days are sunlit and hand-fed

some of our nights were made to be moonless.

we packed up and spread out

like our city burned down

and it’s so still we can hear the smoke moving around

we remember the look on his face

as he pulled fire alarms

there are some things you love

because they pull you apart.