Gills

we gathered together on the bus 
packed in like sardines
headed towards our own 
individual ideas of freedom
of what it means to be alive 
what it means to breathe
and we all have gills too 
that’s the only way to make it 
out here in this vast ocean
of chaos and mystery
it’ll get the best of you
if you let it
the sickness is everywhere 
and in order to live through it 
you have to taste it
you have to ingest it
you have to eat at it
gnaw your way through it
like a dog does a bone
time is gonna win in the end 
but if you are lucky
you might notice the sun
or the moon or the stars
or the beauty that adorns
this palace of execution
and if you are real lucky
you might notice drunkenness 
and music and wild women 
and you might even come upon 
this thing called love

-2013