Anywhere there's smoke, anywhere
there's light; anywhere there's
a riot, a reason, and a military,
there will be pharaohs entombed
in their houses and in fields
of sanguinary debris. A clarion
of triumph will echo into the sky;
now they sing of Sumer, they sing
of wheat and rye and hops,
trembling in bloodstained fatigues
under the sickle moon's soothing
lights. The only smoke now whistled
from the pockmarked earth, an argent
joke among thieves and warriors.
The pyramid homes lined
outside the modern day
Colosseum, silver madonna'd lawns,
idols in every window. Children
escaping doorways, gambolling
into the open arms of
When we were sparrows,
we perched on barbed wire fences
made of dessicated bones and separation:
cotton from orange groves
from overgrown fields of kudzu
from faded barns sagging from wet wood.
When we were osprey,
we crouched between cypress knees,
boney feet threaded with the mangroves
and watched the light wake
of the air boats
over the sea of grass.
When we were burrowing owls,
we squatted on barren earth
like new Americans moved west.
All we found was dust.