small world

Poems and Other Programmes

small world

there is
so much evil

everywhere, everything is
wrong, broken, and doomed

i can’t open my eyes
without being blinded and broken

i can’t listen even for a moment
without weeping or raging

i can’t move an inch
without crushing or cursing

i cannot even breathe
the air is poisonous
and i do not
exactly exhale health

i make my world smaller
until it is
small enough that i can
move and breathe

just barely large enough
if i stand at the very edge
i can see god

because they are not in here with me
where i am safe

they are out there
where everything is wrong
and broken
and doomed

i hear them waiting for me to stop
    thinking and praying
    wearing the colors
    cheering for heroes
    wishing the world was better

they wait
for me to come
come weep,
come rage
bleed and break
come
live

i am here

trapped
not by the evil everywhere out there

trapped by the evil
i made
so i could be safe