they gather to build a nest of plaster and regrets
a gang of misfits with a secret handshake everyone knows
a tank of gas and broken compass is what this day begets
sharing pretzels and blue gummies with each other and the crows
children with skinned knees and well worn sneakers
Gather round to skip stones on the pond of their parents tears
Backpacks no longer needed for lesson plans of retired teachers
Picnic lunches served with plastic forks on golden biers
convention badges and extension lashes walk the corridors
brief hellos and brand new cloths share brief glances
Egos gutted by assassins who leave the bones for coroners
skinny jeans and high heels praying for romances
prayers recited like peddlers at the weekend bazaar
bargain hunters exchanging sins for rented smiles
All that’s left for the empty handed is the feathers and the tar
cheap blessings piled up like silk scarves in the discount aisles
Vinyl sofas with cork laid coasters in matted seafoam
adorned with dim lit lamps of indian descent
filled with gin sippers who play Parcheesi and shout shalom
as the hookah ash drifts slowly to a cluttered vent
Slippers by the bed for a widow who no longer cries
swishes her lukewarm coffee between crafted teeth
somewhere lost between life and death is where she lies
upon the mantle sits porcelain figures and a tattered wreath
Depressed Swans longing to be ugly ducklings
Reading editorials of climate change and moral falls
aghast at the news of smuggled children and drug kings
with beaks filled with tainted seed and secret hauls