“i’m not your brother, and
i’m not your friend." Ozzy was never
anything but human, and unlike my father
he was never close enough to hurt me.

the only way to know is to endure.
the sound surrounds me / there is no direction
like my head is too big / and i’m listing listing
about the noise, if they scrape at the glass in the wind

an erosion of meaning, data like water / some source
of life, like an advertisement. always a celebration
pyramids of yellowcake. climb to the top and survey
your new kingdom, Ozymandias.

this is all well-trod territory, the subject
of many years of gnashing of teeth
from weepy traditionalists.
like rats in the nursery playground,

the algorithm executes perfectly.
a bunch of suitcases and random
flashlights depicting whatever hides
in the edges of this day’s blanket.

wait for me as I walk through this valley
in search of your grace, in search of the answers
i have been praying for. the way i said i wouldn’t
be biting it / ever again, i bit it anyway.

i was bitten hard, not by a dog but a man
in a white room / with a tall, angled ceiling
nerve-racking, plunging down the slanted
and enchanted earth, towards the abyssal / California sublime

full and heavy
it skulked low behind the trees / its pale light
an unset sun, a lot of potential
to pack into a broken vav.

//

(hyperverse)

Waalaikumsalam, selamat tilem, peace 🌑