If I can, I should

If I can,
I should.
Break my bones
And brag

To any nosey rag
Sparking at the drag.
Receipt into the bag,
A crumpled ticker tape parade.
Society’s cast out, cast off brigade.

Iron will circling the drain.
Virtuous overtures fawn and feign
A stolid mind.
Twisting what’s left behind
To sentimentality unwind.

Brawny, brackish, boiled brine.
If only lost, not yet to find
The ache you feel for the first time.
Because you don’t, I know it’s mine.

Another clever smug endeavor
Shut out with the rain.
Stretched taught in merchant cellophane,
Leftover transparent purpose.
Clapping, cloying, clicking circus.

The wire’s high
And feet are nervous.
They came to watch me exhale.
Indifferent if I should fail.

The lights go up, the hush falls down
This coupon coated little town.
Remembered shadows upside down

7/17/21