some straws in the wind of disaffection
some straws breaking the surface of Lake Doubt
some straws feeling guilty for the doomed comrades they sent out
some straws that are too short
some straws that are too thin
some straws that are cracked and won’t take a full breath in
some straws to cover the trapdoor
some straws to kindle the fire
some straws arranged on jungle floors to hide the thin tripwire
some straws inside the mattress where she’s pass out from the gin
some straws outside the mattress, not complicit with the sin
some straws in the parched mouths of the sick
some straws turned to ash by the candle’s wick
some straws to make the houses that the wolves will all blow down
some straws to make the bricks that shatter windows when they
don’t want your kind around
some straws fed to horses mouths by victims of lobotomies
some straws pierce through a bloody throats in desperate tracheotomies
and some straws
float
inexplicably
down
a city gutter
on a river of rain
