I wish to let it go so much and then something is in the way and I quiver with anger where there is no one around I think of you and I wish to let go

this empty store is just like us
and we pay homage and declare and collect change
smiling towards one another
saying what we always say
for the heck of it or the sake of habit
we continue mimics and praise ourselves quietly for our mimics
it is the things we distinctly know not to talk about in public
these revealing moment
the child sits in front of the television
learning about things like explosions and sensationalized celebrity death
the child breaks a glass object and hides it
the child finds a penny and talks about it
and continues to look for money on the ground because there is
nothing else to do

I ask you to cut the ribbon unless you’re ready
a clerk at the mattress store paces between beds
then steps from the floor to a mattress and from the mattress back
down to the floor as a customer enters
as expressionless face surrounded by people speaking quietly

because some things burn without trying
and some things gets caught in the blaze that is four miles long
moving toward more residential
the residual emptiness tastes bitter in the flow of movement
and engaged action I hold an object above my head and scream
for all of us or so many of us lost
among the rubbish and debris near the metal canisters
spread throughout a city we blend into our pity for each other
in this cannibal lifestyle of the socially adept