Steel Lives

We all dance. We all pay
homage to our ghosts.
Does it matter?

You give and you give and you
give up. It don't matter.
Does it matter? Your pact:
no one speaks your name
tomorrow has your name
inside. A horror story:

bagged and stranged with the dey, the key
taped to your palm, your wrist. Your fingers
don't have the strength to pry. It's always
out of reach. Does it matter? It don't matter.

Do you
have a curved-vein man
in your family? a brother
or father who does what he wants? Do you
have a wild-eyed mama? a blood-
scolded sister? It don't matter. Does it matter?

Even free you're suspended
over impaling rods. Go
on and try. Go on
and fly. Go on.
Git.