my brain smokes and i ride the wind

or drift by the galaxy past oblivion

the old man sits there

in a way hes always been

today i think

today i’ll talk to him

“Hey gotta light?”

my hands shake  could be the nerves

or the chill of the night

a pale mount leaves his handle

he tosses the lighter over

it’s freshly bought

“Sure son, draw a lot”

i reach and shrug the dark off

or duck the stars stares above

“Why not?”

“Cast off-”

he grins and that too is off

skeletal fingers circle steel

“I didn’t ask for a reveal of the plot”

i war in return nor liking this path

or what i have wrought

i sigh, the rattle of spears

our hands meet i’m going to ask once more

we know, into me his eyes bore

“You get this, it’s not much but each breath is yours”

he laughs and it rattles buildings

“You and yours till the Heavens swallows us up”

I blink the light poles sway and wink back

the old man chuckles

a skyscraper leaves it’s beams

Still on his cane he leans rooted to the spot

“Conversations over you head like a daisy plot”

about those i figure he’d know a lot

or it's the using of that in he’s got

“In quartet is this the same”

i ask knowing it vain

or seeking blood and pain

“I swear it on the grave”

the dog has slipped its chain

i too once was a willing slave

“You're going to burn yourself out, with a lung full of matches”

drinking dread i cling to snatches

or maybe i’m the  fool dripping red

“I need a light” the blue of his iris turns a chilly bright

he’ll reap again when flames lick the sky

for now it’s my time to ride

“I'll take them all with me by God above”

theres fire in my mouth

or smoke in my lungs