worn fermentation stretches double knots
ghostly prints ennoble former blankness
letterpressed to shadowbox fizz-pops
onomatopoeisis deliberately sneezes
hiccups bear arms and as willingly give them up
constitutional prevention involves pressure valves
taking out the possibility of conflict
before the can expands past the point of broken return
five cents, ten in other states, recycled fastidious feet
tromping drunkenly across snowfields
to find out where the mice have gone
unless those were voles, then there is another equation
developed in the darker days of the last war
or is that right now, we miscreant populaces
identify ignorance as our most favored trait
unless it's righteous indignation on offer
then pour another cup with trembling fingers
to redefine our age in the image of ourselves
letting the culture wash over as emergent bacteria
wiggle and shake and eat and reproduce
Roman Ryan 