MAD SEQUENCE:  I

Susan Smith Nash

 

 

Society made me:

like canyons, flooded and deep,

like drowned caves,

never to be discovered.

 

The truth is not free –

I see it dammed up,

on the other side of the spillway

we drive across;

truth impounded

the flow refused,

and I gather husks, taste salt

climb the new, tall walls.

 

I dare not float across the sky

face-up

heart skipping like a flat stone

skimming smooth waters

incriminatingly

the breeze dries me

the flag is bluer than blue today,

the lake is wider than wide

and likewise artificial.