Riding on the leather strap
His father used to transport him
To Mexico, Peru, Iraq —
All far-off lands where memories dim —
He longs for words in kind terrain
He longs for love, for tenderness
But just gets handed whips and pain
While bruises mark his wilderness
While bruises mark his wilderness…
Certain now no one can see
He’s crown prince from another time
His kingdom lost to cruelty
His subjects lost in pantomime,
He’s hiding in a nameless song
He whispers to his empty hands
He wonders if he traveled wrong
When he took off to foreign lands…
And sometimes, scattered, late at night
He looks into a mirrored hole
And sees his Doppel peering back —
Denies himself, his shattered soul —
And sometimes when the lessons flee
In terror at his righteous rant
He chants a prayer from memory
His cadence an agnostic cant
His cadence an agnostic cant
His cadence an agnostic cant…
The roads are dark, the maps were tossed.
He wonders how he lost his way.
He wonders if he knows the cost.
Can he survive another day?
Can he survive another day?
Can he survive another day?
Can he survive another?
