You are always saying
You can’t stand it any more
People look askance
There he goes again
He always goes off on that
When he misses his medication
Peering down the hall
Shhh they’re coming
Others have gotten out
We’ll be like them Shhh
There are ghosts in the mountains you know
Informants in the fields
You’ll be back before you’re missed
And then they’ll kill you
I know where the blind spots are
Where the cameras aren’t watching
I know where the river is
Shallow enough to wade Shhh
Where the shadow falls on the wall
That is where the rope is buried
You have five minutes
Before the lights switch on
When the guard relieves himself
Make a dash for it
When you get to the mountains
There will be owls
The wind will whisper names
But shadows will point the way
There will be cairns
Don’t sleep or
Your dreams will betray you
Eat the lichens
Don’t drink the water
Practice the language
If you get past reason, there is the wall
Of bitter memory
And then there is the razor
Fence of false memory and the fog
Drones prowling with eyes like wolves
Hair-trigger complexes
In the snow fields
Underground rooms into which if you fall
You will stay writing poems
That no one will ever read
At a tiny desk with an epoxy lamp
Connected by hallways
Leading to workout rooms
With people building strong bodies
Watching made-for-TV movies
In which their avatars are
Battling evil and making love
If you make it to the perimeter
Turn left at Walgreen
Continue straight past Home Depot
Don’t stop at Citco
The gas is 4 cents cheaper at the Mobile station
If you don’t want to miss the sale at Bed Bath and Beyond
You can escape tomorrow
Just ignore the blue light flashing behind you
He’s after someone else
Ignore the helicopter swooping over the highway
You have nothing to fear
Nothing to hope for
But nothing to fear Shhh