My thoughts are walled up behind
Rebar and concrete. Enclosed by
The shaky scaffolding of a future
Being carefully built towards the sky.
My words are wrapped up in
Blueprints, sheets of constructional
Calculations, so esoteric the
English language can no longer
Translate them.
The clarity of mind I held in
Such high regard when my head
Was a meadow, an open field,
Undeveloped,
Has fallen by the wayside as bulldozers
Level the ground and architects
Draft piercing towers and engineers
Lay the foundations and the
Scaffolding. The miles of rickety
Planks on pipe on concrete feet that
Supposedly support it all.
Standing under these steel skeletons I
Can catch glimpses of the far-off
Horizon, and at the summit of my
Scaffolding I can still reach to touch
The sky, but I know as the walls
Close up those open frames, my
View will slowly shrink until my
Gaze is stuck firmly to the
Sidewalk. I know my wallless world will
Become confined until I can't
Leave this city any longer.
I understand.
I want it to stay this way forever.
I like to scale the massive I-beams and
Sit above the world, feet dangling,
My hand holding a bit of rope in case I
Fall. I like to balance on these naked
Two by fours, walking the gap between
What will one day be buildings. I like
The way my scaffolding looks like
Spiderwebs, and with my hands reaching
Up to the next bar, I can become
The spider. I want my world to remain
Unbuilt.
Let's stop construction, at least for
Now. We'll throw up shanty towns
Instead, little lean-tos and shacks in the
Shadow of my skyscraper skeletons,
Only meant to exist for a month or
A year or maybe
Four. Nothing permanent, nothing
Made of iron or plastic or steel -
I'll live in wood houses with
Tin roofs and sleep under
Tarps when it's wet out, and every
Day I'll take my hammer and nails and
Walk through my unfinished towers to
Just keep on building my
Scaffolding.
XXXX-
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