You said we are too late I said we are still here You touched the window I touched your sleeve All day the screens Feed us their weather We nod like rooms With no window left open You say nothing moves The wheel eats the hand I say hold still Feel your pulse disobey I don’t need a cleaner lie I need the animal breath of the real Come out of the glue with me Not as heroes. Not clean Just skin and thought And salt on the tongue Come out where the world Still touches back Where one breath Is enough to begin You keep a careful grief Folded in your coat You say the machine Has learned our names I say then speak yours slowly Until it breaks its teeth You laugh without laughing I hear the child in it Still awake, still hiding Still not defeated We were taught to fear the dark But not the sleeping We were taught to count the walls But not the doors Come out of the glue with me Not as heroes. Not clean Just skin and thought And salt on the tongue Come out where the world Still touches back Where one breath Is enough to begin You say they bought the future I say only the labels You say we are already gone I say no. Only badly lit Tell me one true story Small enough to carry No flags. No verdict No bright explanation Tell me how evening Once called you by name Tell me what your hands knew Before they learned to close Come out of the glue with me Not as heroes. Not clean Just skin and thought And salt on the tongue Come out where the world Still touches back Where one breath Is enough to begin You said I am tired I said yes No sermon No rescue Just the chair beside you Outside, the false sky kept shining Inside, your hand found mine If death comes, let it find us awake for once Not useful Not owned Alive And knowing
