debt and settlement.

[off_the_path]

shes angels like magic rope wrangled
cowboys into a jail cell of pure imagination
and jello is cosby-esque when you eat it
with a little kid on your lap
is that offensive do i offend i once collapsed
when i realized light could bend
like a trapeze dancer on a tightrope of flame
i lit the rope i used my zippo i dowsed
the thing in kerosene
but maybe one more bottle of wine will cure my heart
my art is in how much trouble i can force my
liver to endure
i paid my debt it was a debt to society
so i paid it in war time crimes and several
after school television specials aired by retired
ex-tenured poets who praised my use
of metered speech and accented rhymes
i paid my time but the next day the sky was blue
the sun blazed and bruised and i knew
that nothing was settled
that nothing would ever be settled