AGREEMENTS AND DISAGREEMENTS

Where to start where to end it never ends who knows when it began just missed missed it by a long shot a short sighted wrench wrenching one's back back to the beginning that retreats run away far away from them from yourself from this from that nothing is nothing is not going to cut it cut it out cut it up no matter how you slice it up into smaller and smaller pieces of a bigger and bigger picture turn around turn around face forward look behind you can you sense it no intervention no reason happening happenings stringing together dripping nothings dripping with something dripping and whipping it up into shape to march in time all the time in time all the time until it is time to drop in place inside the machine inside the leviathan the monster's body gaping gaps and arms embracing with barbed wire encircling and wrapping in metal health metallically adaptive for maladaptive adaptations for him for her for his and hers for hers and hers and his and his and his and he she it it it it it from the beginning that revs up endings that coming starting over and over listening to the dark face shining with compassionate anger that riddles little observations to agree with agreements signed in blood steeped in blood coursing through veins and muscles constricting little skeletons to obey and say yes and no on cue wait for it the cue they mean they don't mean any of it running the projector flashing overheads hanging from overpasses passing you over for someone else to agree with their disagreements and invalidations stamping over hands and feet toes eggshells walking on foregoing going for the one to stare up at skyscrapers that look like they're falling with the passing obscuring clouds what an illusion they never fall yes they do so many people dying less people dying these days modern technology saving lives making them remaking them casting them rejecting them recasting them rejecting them ejecting them employing them deploying them organizing them disorganizing them uniting them fragmenting them segmenting them regimenting them dementing them cementing them into a hard crust around so many agreements disagreements underneath them beneath them bequeathing them squeezing them every last drop good to the last drop not so good to the last drop stop stop the whole thing have to keep up where are the socks knocked off by the projector flashing eyes flashing faces flashing persuasions agree with the we with the spree with the glee and off to be off to be on to be on it to find the boots the bootstraps strapping and slapping faces bottoms faces bottoms towards away come here not going to hurt you don't flinch let the dark face dark hands just pinch what a pinch what a cut what a hit what a shit in the pants laughing they are all laughing laughing still find the boots to march away run away take off the boots leave them behind sore behind still stinging with the ringing insults ringing in one's ears soothing wind as feet sock feet bare feet heading for the ocean that ocean drowning out the agreements and disagreements drowning the stinging and the words rock heavy heavy boulders inside the stomach ballast for departing from language into a wordless transparent poetry washed through with ocean tides ballast to digest the nausea of agreeing with all the dark faces and the dark hands on shoulders and back scraped with seashells and rocks and driftwood drifting in the surf taken out to wash back up vomited up by the great sea that has agreed to go no further wouldn't dare to overwhelm the coast that dries the dark hands and dark faces and their language for agreements and disagreements where is death?  where is death?  hasten hasten listen listen to more dark hands and dark faces and their language for agreements and disagreements to be signed resigned cosigned resigned designed to be signed again appropriating more breath more voice with fine print define print refine print stint stilted stunt little runt litte runt that wants to punt and sprint and run but can't run but can't stay that can't say that can't play that can't say fine print bacterial print less breath less voice less is more and less is less.


- Max Stoltenberg