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Friday, August 11, 2023

The Paper Bag Prison

Watch it scatter like ripples across still water, 

That itch that digs into the tight corners of the mind 

It crawls up out of the awake 

Only to be toppled just another domino 

No sense left in the birdshot brain. 


Folding thoughts turning them out my own origami, 

Each colorful paper turning darker with each bend 

Until you’re left alone with the original sin. 


Teaching yourself anew with each rising dawn 

You aren’t what you are, 

Caught in the echo of yesterday’s dreams 

Rebuilding what you tore down 

Without all the pieces. 


Left with only the mirror watching you, 

Its unblinking eye following you even when you turn your back. 

Today’s irony is just yesterday’s forgotten deeds 

With too many deaths bed wishes left undone, 

Turn away from the sun before she burns out the retina and leaves you blind. 


Where does reality and the reflection break, 

How long can you carry the shadow on your back 

Until your legs give out under its weight. 


Lost in the paper bag like a puppy 

Craving for release 

You run on legs bound for nowhere 

Smacking into to any obstacle in your path 

Until fate removes the paper shroud 

Your eyes can then see once more. 


My stepfather always said I had a guilty conscience 

Perhaps he was right 

It is just like a dogs paws 

I just needed to grow into it; 

But once I have what is left 

But apparitions from the past 

Or broken visions of the future 

That wink out in the present 

Leaving your mouth dry and unsatisfied.


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