Too easy to throw away,
devalue and discard.
Sacrifice is more
than just an image.
Sanctity is more
than perspective.
Debt paid
and fiends appeased.
Slow down the elevator.
An illustrious descent.
Five stars on the app.
Such a virulent
plague of fashion.
The kind that puts down.
What would the masses give
for one click?
instantaneous satisfaction.
Pretty as a summer rose.
Silk petals
hide the thorns
that grow in abundance.
Conflicts become worrisome
when they spill out
from the garden.
Perfection
was never meant
for the laissez-faire.
It was always
one of the closed dominions.
That is why
the spit-polish
of the bi-weekly rollers
must reflect
what they are willing
to sacrifice.
Blood red.
Smoke on the ground.
These days
everything’s heavier than air.
Strip the petals off
and make a bed.
Tomorrow,
the thorns
reclaim the hedgerow.
DJR – 2023
