It's gray outside
But still too much color
Lonely bobwhite calls
Noone answers
Creatures of the night
Have fled the day
A cold twilight of a day
And only one bird sings
I sit here and wonder
Why am I

Just one more lucky chance
Just one more sat out dance

Sitting on a bar stool
At the end of the hall
Spiderwebs and dust
All doors locked
Bare bulbs
Cast a harsh light
Alone in the preternatural
Waiting

Just one more breath
Just one more silent death

Stairs are dark
No one comes
Dust grows thick
My footsteps erased
Nothing living
Makes itself known

Just one more duty
Just one more missed opportunity

Bulbs burn out
One by one
Sitting now
In the dark
Air is heavy and still
Slowly
Self mummifying

Just one more blink
Just one last time on the brink

Nothing moves
Not even breath
Ossified
No use to leave
Nowhere to go
So I just sit
On a bar stool
At the end of a hall

You
Left something behind
When you went away
A small splinter of you
That refuses to come out
Barbed
A fine hair
An invisible itch
That pulls and irritates
Whenever it catches
On you

Dance
One step
Two steps
Three steps
Go!
Jump up
Spin around
Grab the ring
Reach the ceiling
Shake your body
Move your feet
Music's hypnotech
Keeps us goin
Girl
Love to see you move
Robot-Charleston
Do the sprinkler
Follow the groove
Honey
Let me jump in next to ya
Lock arms
Lock eyes
Do the slow moves
To the chilltronica
Girl
Just wanna be with ya
On the floor tonight

Birds on a black wire
Sing my name
Over hanging kudzu
Does the same
Laughing out loud
Strolling down the lane
Beautiful day
Full of cheer
Warm summer friends
People who are dear
Looking for a smile
You know what I hear?
Singing and shouting
Celebration and joy
Wonderfully lilting
Irish tunes
Fill my daily walking
Trees in the park
Sway in time
Dogs call a melodious bark
I love a day
On a lark

I can see the appeal
Of being a cog
Some small part
Of a larger wheel
Devoid of human desire
Wants or needs
Free from the turmoil
No need for fire
Waking daily to the expected
Going about my tasks
Don't have to improvise
My fragile heart protected

What need for freedom
Does a finger have
From the hand
What need for freedom
Does a hand have
From the body
What need for freedom
Does the body have
From the people
What need for freedom

But there I have to stop
Before my mind goes wild
Sanity draining away
Drop by drop
With the loss of me
Into the freedom
Of the machine
I lose the power to see
What I did before
A delicate smile
A wind swept plain
Art from days of yore
Painful as painful must be
I have to hang on
And not lose
The independence of me.

He sits there, silent, staring
Judging me
He calls out to his friends,
His family
And they join him there
Staring at me
Judging
First the one, then ten
Now a hundred
Black like robes
Blacker eyes
Watching
Judging
Waiting to call out the verdict
The others, they stay away
They dare not cross
These beady eyed judges
But I hear their silence
And I know I am alone

Storm clouds gather
Darken the skies
And The Judge
The judges
Begin their cry
First The One
Then all together
Cawing out their displeasure
At my existence
The wind whips
Subtle movements
A stirring begins
The judges flapping
Angry, harsh
Lightening flashes close
Judges take flight
A cacaphony of guilty
Is carried on the wind

Alone again
The rain starts
The crows are gone
The circuit court in flight
And I sit
Waiting in the cold
Rain soaked
Waiting for my due