crash.

cracked windshields

and blood stained t-shirts

manufactured landscapes

with fake man-made

sunlight

we have a number

and a story

before we're old enough

to even read them

we're breathing poison

inhaling it

eating it

drinking it

seeing it

and hearing it

innocence has never

been an option

for any of us

papers with numbers

and deadlines

reminding us

that we'll never be free

and as our skin wrinkles

and our dreams fade

nothing will ever have

that new smell again

statements and forms

with official stamps

from the beginning

to the end

our birth

and death certificates

will bookend our lives

after working all day

on my feet in worn out shoes

i realized that i have developed

a slight limp

as i walk into the house

perhaps i never noticed

because in my head

i've had that limp

for years

...