[dead man]

-





they forgot about me here. there was a forested cavern
i remember, like a lightbulb popping - war & disaster
forming a pattern, much alike historical chapters
but nothing could prepare us for the After.
transmorphism, cancer - blood and bone for dessert
before i was alone in the dirt. homes to be searched
my wife had my cologne in her purse,
that's what caught aflame first,
left her a blackened skull & smoldering earth. fuck..
details are unimportant now. we turned to the news
for guidance, sanity, structure. their alerts were reduced
into flashing texts that told us where to search for recluse,
each city had an entrance point they herded us to.
ours was district 1. near what used to be Dallas,
there were shelters, elevators, dark, confusion and panic
routines that they had drilled but never put into practice
some trampled, others lost. just the usual madness
it became a competition - who ran through it the fastest
and my wheelchair put me at a huge disadvantage
so they left me. fear-stricken men will kill to survive
it was all over for most of us. it seems silly to cry,
wandering this labyrinth. i was following light
looking for stragglers. for a possible life
swung a door open, heard it lock into place
behind me. and i knew that i was out of the race
moths in a case - for days i've been tearing away
at their precious nutrition. dung beetle breakfast soufflé
lunch, dinner the same. i'll thank our military in spades
someday, for having fallout insectariums made.
so if this shelter self-destructs once they sound the alarms
at least i'll burn out, not fade away. i'm not gonna starve...





DEADMAN