Poem 15: The Chain


Only the dead die alone,
riding an ass to Athabasca
Acid rain, acid snow,
acid tongues

Got these shackles on my feet
like pigeons 
the language beyond language
I do not know

Golden chains of love
bind me to a dead and dying world
free me
and I will spire
like the sun
or the swallow in its womb,
womb and word

-- Eli Fox