hellocentral

the watcher

there's a tower in his brain and an eagle in his eyes
and robert steps outside
it was raining that day but it started to snow
and the watcher inside his thoughts
would not let him go
little bobby was a baby and his mother caught his flu
as the worm inside her body grew
and the day he escaped from his red woman prison
bobby grew wings and flew
the kitten and the mitten are no good for you son
you son are meant for the world
but the world didn't want bobby, gentlemen prefer blondes
with a mop and a broom and

casey was passed out drunk in the back room
her wrists slung over a shipping crate
casey grew up just a little too late or
maybe she didn't grow up at all
it's so hard to say these days
but the cure for the cold may make you sick in other ways

it's a passage from a scripture far older than the bible
it's a scratched out paragraph on a lined piece of paper
floating down the urban rain river
headed for the drain
the mice people in the gutters don't care for the fall
robert takes a cue from the orange snow
he hears the watcher's call but he doesn't know how
november never seemed quite as bright as it does now.

casey loved horses and all things pink
and momma's little girl wraps her fingers around her drink
she spreads her legs for every boy and his daddy
and she really thinks they care
and she spends her free time worrying about her hair
she has nothing else to do

and casey looks out her window
just a little after
robert flies past
on his way to somewhere better
she doesn't think about the red and the blue

people die
inside their minds
in other's eyes
in groups and as one
on wings of iron
under the hot hard sun -
or on liquid desperation
blown open by a gun.

robert's eyes are open
but now the eagle has flown
and the future is done
the medicine is gone
and the world has seen its last dawn
and casey
is completely
alone.