Anthem

ANTHEM



slough it off like skin if it helps
hot showers loosen muscles
cold showers loosen hate
either way it’s best to wash off the smell
of sweat you’ve given away
before it lingers too long


don’t think of it as days or hours or lives think
of that beer waiting patiently
like a wife
in the fridge think
of death think
of pizza and Fritos movies on TNT blood
dripping from your knuckles
like rain


because life
is so much longer than anyone
told us
days so short
and they’ll kill you with traffic
before the fumes even have a chance
to give you cancer kill you
with taxes paperwork kill you


by digging a hole in you slow
each day fill it
with shit and noise
until that’s all that’s left
you’ve seen what used to be men
who’ve become this


find a place or make it in yourself
they’ll never touch
wrap it in lead fire make it too hot
to touch hate can motivate
but it burns out like a bad lightbulb
and must be replaced
with more bulbs again and again until you learn
to see without it or make something
from yourself like light



CL Bledsoe

Posted over on Story South