-----are evil
I love it because I slipped away
The room dark --like the shadow of a
-----sheltering wing
They lined us up
I took a deep breath --hit the floor
& rolled under a bed
lying for two nights beneath the robber------chief’s breathing
more his prisoner than when he had me
He inhaled --I inhaled --He exhaled --I
-----exhaled
sleeping & not sleeping
the nightmare of their game --again &
-----again
--They line up ten men
--How much land do you own?
--The first says --three acres
--& they shoot him
--The second man lies --eight acres
--& they shoot him
--The third says --fifteen
--They shoot him when they find he lied
My fellow evangelist died --in truth --this
-----way
When I redream it I am in the line
or they drag me from beneath the bed
Each waking I try not to move
my limbs silently scream --surrender
but there’s purpose in my escape
they hiss --strangle out the breathing
but I pray for deliverance
some other way
When moving out --the breathing’s voice
-----says
check under the beds
but they miss one --& I escape
(This poem first appeared in The Fiddlehead)
