babies falling

where the workers stand in querulous rows awaiting dislocation

i will be there too

when you're cashing in your food stamps

when you're sleeping in a cattle train

i'll be with you

pushing up against the ticket counter window face against the glass

bleeding from the waist and kissing to be chaste

it is said that those who will not rest have been cursed

to tramp like soldiers through the marshes

or that blessed are the ones who leave the stage

like babies falling fast asleep

so i twice am cursed and twice am stuck

affixed to this corner of the earth. that old river keeps on rolling but the old man doesn't see it

he just stands there with his eyes closed

asking where'd you go?" "where'd you go?"