Cross-tree

Cross-tree (1/4)

Little legs claw then untense
on it's back the roach looks uneventful

On its back with broken legs
the mouse that's bothered us for months
looks like a stranger struggling with bags on the stairs

They aren't real people suffering
they are just scripted to look like crying

Tense then un

I will walk the rigging masts and you search for
land or signs of ships as we sail this sea
of uncharted worry - broken waves pity our oars

Tense then un

What do we carry when we leave Olmelas
when the glowing orbs of our eyes stop filtering
out the jump cuts from the huddled masses

Broken on the beach the horseshoe crab's back looks like a fissure
in the earth a crust open redness seeping from below