The grand mistake
of thinking you can do this in short order,
the grand mistake that gets you going.

Burning through shoe leather, and 
having the willingness to face
eventual bullets.

The entertained thought
of your own need for 
eventual bullets.

Shaking it off, then
letting it come back to rest
near the ancestors’ graves, if needed.

Shoe leather, again.
Cardboard for signs,
short money shared for bail.

A promise to take care of 
kids if…A promise to keep going
if…promises to…keep promises…

Wary eyes
on supposed alliances
made from necessity.

Hunger, thirst,
comfort, vinegar, bandanas,
holy lies, selective deceit, stealth.

End of the world as we know it.
End of the world we don’t.
Lying down to sleep in a world no one knows.

Hope? Honor? Success?
Don’t hold your breath looking for it
in a mirror. A telescope, maybe.