canyon

she says
yr skinny arms are maps
and what she means are the
scars you leave and
the buildings of course
are falling

and the roads become highways and
the father is a killer and
what is america but a burial ground?

what is the sky but blue
burnt black at the edges?

listen

the sound of god is the sound
of your sister crying

the blood is fresh on the bathroom floor
and the little girl is sleeping
and the baby is dead

the fetus is in the toilet
and she calls to tell you the names
that she'd chosen and there are
birds at every window and
a savior nailed to every cross

and she says the war is over

she says her brother's legs are gone
and she says his best friend
doesn't call it rape when he
ties her to the bed and
she says these words are worthless

she says the house is one fire
but what she means is that
the boy has cancer

what she means
is that the water is poison
and the president is eating the flesh
of orphans

is wrapping their bones in the flag

and when you talk about fucking
what you're talking about
are politics
and when you talk about politics
what you taste like is fear

and will you crawl over broken glass
to hear me tell you i love you?

will you stand outside the house
and tell the boy not to go in
or will you let him be the one to
find his mother's body?

remember

this is a world where bombs
are dropped on churches

where kim phuc still runs
naked and burning
down every village street

and maybe what i do is talk to fill
the silence that fills this room
and maybe it's finally just
the sound that matters

maybe the words
are nothing more than static spilling
from a sinking ship

maybe we'll be safe
as long as we keep breathing