and I had already seen the negativity I'm back, but I'm just a guest put off obliteration to tempt a gambling debt we learned all about these mysterious numbers and nothing about each other spent more time hedging bets than working the tables we never reached the boarder or the mistakes we wish we had made courtyard confessions complete strangers books they wish they hadn't opened there's a spot on this shelf but this dust hasn't settled so what were you planning on doing with me? what’s not to love about a mischievous smile? willing improbabilities jumping off our risky words creating excuses timid maneuvers spilling secrets in the backyard showing each other sterling silver but that’s not what this was built out of this is an unsavory luster this is stained teeth and reservations until it came to a stuttering stop hands holding out for potential then taking a stand on dangerous ground locking the windows taking the night off and sitting in the same spot in the morning we're turning this pride around let's see if this cut continues I didn't realize that this was going to be a question how do I find out if I survived? this is as grand a speech as I could figure named out of curiosity welcome to my preserve this hall of doors and crimes it looks like it was closed up, absurd pittance and pardons colliding predictions admirable coincidence discovering total control holding it in to say it out loud left in grotesque fear just letting this hang overhead trying to pull enough strings together stretching nefariously incomplete repetitions picking up just enough pieces from just enough recklessness only to dig up tangled roots let the tension slack and stand on solid footing but the spectacle was completed with differing combinations of open locks explaining abrasions the never ending questions for happenstance writing separate drafts safety in universality some stories are better told with a few of the details left out

whiplash turns the dust never settles old news quotations pointed exile clues hidden in the asides how do we cut up this script? as we stretch and shape words on irons there is ink within reach gods have declared that there are no gods written on disappointment vile thieves stealing trust unwanted advocacy consonant minds have feared love it's already been stolen with diffused focus so write the scene from scratch because this isn't for everyone the new hate looks just like the old hate and they can go stand outside we need to work for the first division the blindness in our eyes opened doors failed assignments and every heart cast out this room is filled with bad intentions and deja vu we all want to visit but we never want to stay eating at the table fusing this together the colors of the time this isn't helping anyone condescending tones hidden dreams sharing commonalities wishes all falling on the same spots counting the steeples we can see from here the celebrations we abandoned hopeful faces reality slaps and stings kissing the past away in regretful leaps cities that have never been discovered calling back, dangling these rejected symbols fixing bones occupations tease with playful words losing bets flirting with irony sleeping with coincidence hollow sounds ring shame circles, obscured the payment was made there's no pleasure in this filled with smoke numb and vacant creeping in the distance hosting these arrogant stories sooner than we assumed broken determinations voids collapsing instincts catch intrigue a thousand cliffs unsatisfied the worth we've been paid in hummingbirds among ghosts drastic calendars but this sentence was commuted standing on the bridge hanging over the tracks asking to be wrapped in the blankets of tradition but we're eating defeat confusing our words retiring this information or are we lost on state street? never quite getting it right finding mistakes subtle recognition let's get this over with to even it out but here's what really happened from sneaking eyes dressed in hero's clothing to right in front of my very own thin string growing stronger decorated for the occasion and he might as well have howled a great howl mimicking what once was a current generation lost to time and compromise but I knew the backbone amid awkward halting stops busy looking the part meditating too heavily spread by the wind reunited teetering to the hope or the wall misusing the location locked scraping paint landing on a second interrupted for difficult description rope frays waiting to be cauterized I don’t remember when I got back in town my blood drew straws and put this on me an unlikely falling in I found his shitty yellow car looking through these offices I see his smug face being questioned strange informality scattered suspects mismatched crimes they found his notes in the margins of magazines and they know what he’s using them for but I guess they don’t have enough for him or anyone luck hanging overhead I snuck in to cut him off holding hands made a wrong turn a labyrinth’s station a smiling uniform poking holes in this union violently silent mouths hang stiff cords unshaken I can’t find my way out another corner grotesque in ceremonial robes walking in lines carrying their trophies from every direction a woman dancing without music backed into a supply closet with a shivering badge and bystander they turn around and say welcome