"My Mother Paid My Bail"

By Dex

I traveled all this distance
East to west and back again
Following a bright star
until it died like Keats did
with a black hole at the bottom of
some lake in a state
I'll never see again
Your Honor
I don't know how to find my way
It is dark in the courtroom
and dark on the road
Your Honor I object
I never jumped from any moving cars
I waited till the end
your honor
spread across the airlines and the roads
the phone lines and my bones
some things come back
and then again some don't
Your Honor
let me go
I am spit out on the other side
all hydrogen and unfamiliar things
new smells and vows, a million baby stars
What is North anymore
underneath my feet
it's steam escaping me
another drive, another dream
Your Honor
with my right hand raised
I Swear I'm ready to leave
a fog, a bloom, the last
bright wink
all the stars are gone
the sun has paid my bail
and set me free

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Dex is a poet, artist, and former USMC Military Police Officer. You can follow her here.

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