Among and Even With

Every society metaphor
always rings insufficient,
the hollow knock on the
tree's decaying door; 
but this does not preclude
life or its future -- images
are ravages when summed
too hard, concavities when
hummed by index card. Give
speeches to pictures and the
civil eye station will see what
you mean, be what you glean,
and every member could, if
the motive strikes swiftly 
enough, come to believe 
that the machine is clean
and the parts are good starts
to whatever project this is.