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Regrettably

Across from the neon parlor
Where the strangers in a strange land
Bet their lives on pachinko,
I searched the sky, for the sun and the moon.

Not here, not anywhere.
The machines buzzed, hummed.
Poisoned, the eyes of the Earth
Have closed and keep sleeping.

Once the hub of empires,
Of lilies, and olives, and respect,
This glass we lean on will break.
No more bets.

We can say we knew better.
We can say the weather felt a bit patchy.
But we've tilled this soil
And planted our seeds, and the harvest

Will always be death.

This ramshackled body,
The gardeners know, has a place
In the dirt. Your graftwork is to grow
With the seeds until the stars swallow us all.

Did I find them? Oh yes, her lids slid open
And there was daylight. Closed,
And there were the Leonids, shooting across.
Did I say to grow? I meant to grow in love.

Did I say to grow in love? I meant to love
Like the lilies. I meant to, but the stars
Swallowed us. I meant to make peace
With olived branches. I meant to respect her.

And I did as she slept and Heaven slept with her.

--

Mad Word List 9.4.18

Neon
Sky
Buzzed
Poisoned
Pachinko
Ramshackle
Graftwork
Patchy
Hub

--

Respect life while it is in your arms.

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