Freedom's Jest

the years bit down.
sharp fangs in tender bones.
we hung onto the math.
surviving on the persistence of skin.

the resilient stretch.
the hungry spoil.
the defeated give.
as it bends and tears
to finally let us in.

the windows shudder.
moan. with the mercies of the sun.
the hill swallows us.
in gravity's massive fist.

we were small once.
delicate. until we grew into our grief.
slender stalks crippled
by the weight of expectation..

the end was quiet.
as our time machine broke down.
the highway was dark.
as we pretended to know
where we had been.

places.
knots in the thread.
cages left open.
prisons we wish
we'd never left.