Galaxies Away

4. We Are Savages

Pounding on the gravel
and ash with my shoe,
I rid myself
of the castles
and cathedrals
that you have built for me.

Like me,
people of spring
fall in love,
or rather search
and drag themselves
to the magic house
of smoke,
mirrors,
and illusions.

Like me,
they are entranced
by the magician
who conjured pleasure
and happiness from thin air.

They follow him,
like maggots
that circulate
around the dead.
And he leads them,
like the king
of his own pride
of golden and gloomy lions.
And much like the way
nuns hide their
daughters
and sons,
they felt protected,
as if they were jewels
gathered from the seas
to be loved.

We are the savages,
the animals he tames
in his circus.
We are the savages
that the civilized,
the wise,
the lucky,
pay to watch
in our disgraceful tutus
and cowardly masks of makeup.
We are the savages
that made him feel
like he was not a clown,
but a king
with a jeweled ring
on every finger
to be kissed
by every pair of lips.
We are the savages
that buried ourselves
six feet below the earth
and left ourselves
swallowed whole
by his eloquent
and lustful
web of lies.