robed prison walls in a gated concrete state
i was told there were jungles here,
but all i see are unknown faces,
all i hear are passive voices
rows of sage, nonverbal screams, people are scared to walk at night
you learn how to not breathe by breathing deep
i learned how to hang upside down by standing straight
she chose to run alone at night,
it is one way over a barbed wire fence
we gasp for speech when we get to land
never learned how to keep quiet,
i only feel pain when i sleep
coral trees whisper a song i don’t understand
they protect a field of knowledge
above my head
it is the new frontier, crowded by apex predators
someone smart once said to me i would fit
in better under the sea
crossing lands is one way to live,
fall down to the ground, give me a second, maybe three
Photo: Shea Prueger
