Step Ladders and Dirty MIrrors

we spent the hours on the obvious poisons. more than willing to surrender to the loss. the colors told us. in all the words we could not say. the ugly epiphanies of skin that drive us forward. long after we've reached our limit.

the parsed buttons. the broken zippers. all the systems that eventually  undo us. stumbling through the hierarchy of want. we slipped inside its panic. that generous mouse trap. ripe with all the choices eager to swallow us.

the little tables. the empty chairs. incredulous. as the feast consumes us.

the lingering thieves. focused on the crumbs. as starvation listens louder. the sweet dolls that press their lips to the buttons.

we know how fast. we know how far. but still we struggle with where we are.

the flesh comes away from the bone. we name the shadows. we accuse the math.

but the truth is the end is all that matters.