We Believe

We believe in the sweat of a brow
and tearing of the flesh. Work hard
and dream light.
A dollar an hour to seven.
Barefoot on wood
twisting to a perfect diamond. Work hard
and dream light.
Surrounding the wall built higher and higher.

We eat what's left on the floor.
Small scraps
crumpled and fallen in the speed to consume.
It's so much older.
It's so much wiser.
It tastes like
it's only been there for a moment.

We live for yesterday.
For tomorrow. For everyone.
So they can step and stomp and rush and...
Live the life they want you to.
Bound in soiled rags. Tight,
tight, tight.

We walk with numb dreams.
Looking to the pebbles and gravel.
Holes in the ground,
in your feet,
in your work.
And in your dreams. Slipping out,
no pressure builds up.

We carry the familiar
burden of little blue tags on rusted knobs.
Slippery mud lifts us to the end.
Lapping waves at heels cracked
from failed escapes
from walls that get higher with
each
passing
moment.

We learn nothing of what they told us.
Drilling information into the
small holes in our heads.
Marching in the blood from
unknown hearts, fingers, legs.
Pounding fists thump on books
stacked
higher than the sky.