Pacification

they float down the river 

my soft pink Thought petals

which fell with grace 

from the stem of a wilting flower 

and are now plucked from the water

by my mind's eye

 

like paper soldiers

shot in the foot  

they cannot walk 

cannot bear the weight 

of their own impotence

they are limp and

troubling to observe 

 

but one by one

they line up

along the grove of my tongue

which is slack and unresponsive

and shoot fiery bullets

into the air

bang bang bang

 

words like shotgun shells

cover the floor

shiny and hot with condensed silence

I long to speak quickly and at will

but I am pacified to the point of petrification

a fossil a fiend

whose thoughts twist wildly

lost in a field of missed connections