the sound of civilization falling

witness then this silence,
life as still as
the day you die. that
day of birth, always
fading toward oblivion.
chains civilize your husk
of abandoned womb,
shackle you too.
this povertied life.

those hands choking
your brain, stroke
of midnight clogs
your heart. the fear
they feel into you.
flee then this love,
forced into retreat.
man woman child
overboard. drown sorrow
in debt.

how remarkable, macabre
mask dance of civilization
possesses you like spirits
of dead presidents
presiding over your
papered green fantasy.
you break upon the rocks
shored by desperate
waves of loneliness.
alone in this.
you fight for breath
in the middle of america
clear cut. yet confusing.

this tangled mass of arteries,
coronary bypass the off ramp
of wilderness. no service
due to lacking funds.
a nation falls, no one
pays attention: does it
make a sound?
like bombs dropping,
shopping bags popping
or hearts stopping.

long, the fingers
that choke your brain.
feeling fear into you.
still we wither.
dither about this,
that and the other.
crawl back to mother,
her welfare checked
by unbalanced federal
branches. the bough breaks.
a nation will fall.
bombs drop, hearts stop
and the only sound
is the echo of this
impermanent folly.