empty milk cartons
I
when the plague started
and the people ran in fear
did you join, or did you stand and watch
i made pop corn with extra salt
because it was around
that night, i saw you with her
she was crying in the corner
i could imagine you telling her
no, don't worry, it's all okay
i wonder why you lied
the pixies crooned from the stage
and no one stopped to listen
because we're all too busy
getting where we have to go
II
when the plague struck me
i saw only in black and white
and everything made sense
so logically senseless
people running from challenges
and hiding in closets, under beds
we are the monsters
my moniker is boogey man
i scared you as a child
i am death's delivery
and it's a single serving
of rice and potatoes and truth
i saw the men run from their lives
and the women with their heads in the sand
i saw the children, alone, staring
down the long, dark path
at nothing
III
when the plague ended
and the moon crashed into the atlantic
did you feel the breeze
did you taste the salt
the grounds are chalky
and covered in lint
i made a sweater in my front yard
it shrunk in the dryer
my sister pulled it over her doll's head
people tell us to grow up
and we do so fast their heads spin
and they regret it when we're too old to cuddle
they curl up on the couch -- alone
begging the ghost of a child to lay near
but their breaths blow the ghosts away
and they sob into pillows
longing for the past
IV
when the plague was forgotten
and the forgiveness parade began
i spelled out i'm sorry, it's all a charade
you made a banner that fell from your shoulders
don't blame me, the exorcist was a fake
the hollow people making hollow babies
don't stop to think about tomorrow
they just produce in their mechanical way
and history is lost to the
children of the future
they don't even care about us
we don't come with batteries
our packaging claims they're
SOLD SEPARATELY
ineffective marketing stratagem