Timely Morsel: Empire's Fool

Written Nov. 10-11, 2024

Empire’s fool
I feel I have been. 

Only ever baskets
of bones to carry.
Sticky buns. Sweetness. 
Torn backs & bleeding
feet. You taught me,
oh, you taught me

I could not have
the pleasures of life
without carrying baskets
and baskets of bones.

You kept me under
threat always, not one day
but under threat.

Insidious often, someone 
else’s misfortune. Everyone
knows, right? 

There are lies I did not believe,
but still have lived within,
and there are lies I did believe,
and there are lies I believe still.

Empire’s fool, 
intellect held up like a lantern,
heart curled in like a dragon,

and my spirit, where, where?

Somewhere else, where the fields are
free for the wandering, and the people 
go where we would like to go. 

My basket has spilled. My fingers
are moving. Finger bones meet finger bones.
I do not have the skill to sort this, but
my basket has spilled, my fingers are moving.