Jailbreak

The world meant nothing
When it was all over
It was hard to
Laugh and to
Live.

Move ahead
Move
Ahead the
Heart said.
Don’t look back
Don’t look back the
Mind said.

Shut up the
Man said
Be quite in there.
Don’t you tell me what to do.
But, the man didn’t
Look back and the
Man pushed
Forward through the swampy
Place.
Vines
And marsh
Vines and marsh and algae
Mosquito larvae and mosquito
Mothers
Biting and eating his blood.

And the leeches
Had a
Party.
And the parasites all
Clapped and
Laughed at the mans
Blood while they drank away and
Grew fat and
Tired.

The spiders weaved a
Banner.
It sparkled in the mercury
Swampwater.
The cottonmouths blinked
A teary eye.
The woodpeckers tapped
A swollen beat and the katydids
Danced on the cypress knees.
The Spanish moss swayed and
Trembled.
The hoot owl spun his head and blinked one eye.
The man stopped to
Piss on an
Orchid but
The orchid said
Wait, piss on that cattail.
The man said okay and unzipped.
The orchid thanked him with
A bow of gratitude and
Pointed him in the
Wrong direction.
The man noticed a hint of treatchery
In the orchid’s tone,
But he ignored it and went ahead.

Soon, the moon beamed a
Smile and the irrikanji danced
In the muck.
The man waded through the murk
Cautiously and made sure not
To let the irrikanjii’s tendrils touch
Him.
The man was afraid,
But the
Irrikanjii
Parted and let him through.
No problem at all
They told him.
No problem at all.

The cricket rubbed its
Legs together and put spark to the tinder
And made a
Fire so the man could be warm in the swampy
Nighttime.
Thank you
The man said.
You crickets sure are a nice bunch
Of fellows.
Oh, don’t mention it said the cricket.
It was no trouble.
No trouble a tall.
Well, the man said.
Here’s some wheat for you and
Yours.
Oh, thank
You
The cricket
Said.
Thank you
Dearly.
My children will feast tonight.
A grackle sat perched
On a cypress branch
And listed to the conversation
And when the man fell asleep
The grackle swooped down and snatched up the cricket
In her beak
And
Swallowed him down.

Yum yum
The grackle said
Yum yum
What a wonderful snack.

When the sun came up,
The man woke up.
He gathered what little belongings he
Had and set out for the great river.
He walked and
He waded.
He swam and he danced on a mossy
Stone.
Wow. The man said
This moss is
Like a natural carpet.
The moss smiled at his remark and
Spit in his eye.
Fuck you, you green bastard
The man said. I have to take a shit.
The man shit onto the moss
And the moss said
Thank you.
Thank you for helping to fertilize
Me. The man reached for a cypress leaf
To wipe his ass.
No, no, you mustn’t
Use that
The moss said.
Here use this,
This is
Much
Better.
The man took the other leaves and wiped,
But when he was halfway
Through,
He realized that it was
Poison ivy.

Drat the man said
Drat, damn, darn
The man said.
He grabbed
A cypress leaf and wiped the rest
Of the shit
From his
Asshole.

The man took out his knife and shaved the moss
From
The stone and
Threw it into the water.
The moss gurgled a
Final message of hate
And drowned.

The man walked away and headed
North to
The great river.

When he finally
Reached the bank,
He began looking for wood to
Make a raft.

He weaved the vines through the wood and tightened
It all
Together.
He hopped onto
The raft and
Set out for home.

Three days
And
Three nights he braved
The big
Rapids and
He made it
Back to his house
in the hills.

Hello dear
His wife said.
Hi. The man said.
Are you hungry dear?
His wife said.
Yes. The man said
And I have an itchy
Asshole too.