beast with his horn, like

a

bird yes wire the wire above or below no matter the wire and the swaying and the dark

major tom to ground control

something wrong

circuit dead

drunk too among voices midnight perhaps choir perhaps only mouths

opening and shutting in the

black

bird, blue sky

tried yes tried in my fashion if fashion it was crawling sideways

through it all toward what they call

free

worm on the hook not caught not yet perhaps always caught twisting there saying

nothing

nothing i can do

knight from a book old book damp pages gone

soft in the rain helmet

eaten by mildew riding nowhere

the ribbons kept all of them scraps

colours fading in a pocket for you if you are

you if there is a you

the stars look very different today

unkind yes

if unkind then that

never meant

let it pass over let it sink among the other things no need to sort them now

untrue yes perhaps

but not to you no not there not in that direction

baby not breathing

never to you

(horned beast lowering its head through the thicket)

all who stretched a hand torn away from me by me through me impossible to say

planet earth is blue and nothing I can do

still the song

the wrongs piled one on another

and swearing by both since there is little else

some reckoning later

some making good if the account survives

a beggar leaning into his crutch wood against bone bone

against earth

said asking too much always too much

the woman in the doorway dark around her face

more

she said why not ask for more

the two voices crossing in the mud

the bird again

always returning

wire humming in the distance

lineman

wichita

still there

drunk among the unseen singers

and i there somewhere between light of the dark black night

trying

still trying

in my way

tore the hands that reached for me

seems like nothin’ ever comes to no good

on choctaw ridge

nothing i can do

to be free

travelling

something wrong

circuit

words detached

floating too

can you hear me

question wandering on alone after the voice has stopped

moon now only waiting for this moment to arise

singing through wires

midnight choir

far above

still

can you hear me

can you

can

plunging

tin can broken wings learn to fly

billy

the blue

joe

the black

the turning

black bird on blue sky

the blue

nothing to be done nothing done nothing

still floating

floating

mccallister

trying in my way to be

free

only waiting for

this moment to be

free