James Walton #112 Uncaged animals

They speak

but then they don’t

these handlers of truth

their baton tongues rattle

along loose evaporating bars

we see through a decline

without any nurture

the promise withering within

still

I’ll hold your hand

step out Fred and Ginger

fall and rise

hand on cuff less wrist

over this diapason rescue

but then again

the sideshow ennui

calls us back

one last performance

we will grow tired

of the ringmaster’s whip

stand up with the big cat

nine tails or lives

if you slip

I will slip too

one for one

this is how a number grows.