Seasick Within The Promise

we take breath for granted
until the moment it is not given
then
we remember
the orange moon only blinks before us
as breath permits it to enter our swollen gaze -

our hands embrace such familiar illusions
that all is as it will be -
we laugh in the face of the inevitable
and call our friends to recount the stories -
once forgotten,
twice-told
never as they were before

what do you remember about the silver sliver
prancing in semi-glass reflections of our times?

taken for granted and spilled into reservoirs of matter and dreams
equally touched, equally mist
we kissed our own wakefulness in requiem
and in sly efforts to defy the single-filed tyranny of time.

we are called to attention
in the terror of our amplified rhymes
nudging us forward
in a plentitude of cynicism and hope.
our greatest pain serves to remind us
we are awake and gambling
with the recurrence of will and restitution

perhaps forgiveness is in order
for all the animals tried to tell us
as they bobbed and bellowed
seasick within the promise -
our lives are lived in death and excellence,
the politics of promiscuity and uncertainty.

we grapple with what is sacred and perceived
irreversible
of fur, spirit and skin
of vanities, of passing pleasures
taxi cabs, polluted rivers
unwieldy, unconscious schemes

we do our best to herald the angels come -

where were you the night creation dawned?
and where did you yawn
as judgment came to claim the day?

our truth and our distance
licks the orange moon clear from the sky
in pre-colonial innocence
blind and wet with such messy birth
new life begins again.