Only the nerves, insect-like twitches

Involuntary bowel movements, and confusion

A snail in salt doesn't fall asleep

With a half-smile

Like grandma from the after-school special

It twists and contorts

It jerks and writhes for some time

Like a living severed limb on fire



All the people who taught me card tricks are dying

I've been trying

To get my pop-pop's good looks from old snapshots

And all the people who taught me crad tricks are dying

I've been trying

To steal my grandfather's handsome from old photographs



Even if the world is saved

And the couples kiss before the credits list

There will be more than a lifetime of death

In the scrambled signal snow that's left

When the black intake runs out

The invisible frame's death tacked to your movie reel

Far outweigh the reel itself



All the people who taught me card tricks are dying

I've been trying

To get my poppa's good looks from old snapshots

And all the people who taught me crad tricks are dying

I've been trying

To steal my grandfather's handsome from old photographs



There is no grace in act five



A circus tent and all the folding chairs fit in an old coffin

For travel

A circus tent and all the folding chairs fit in an old coffin

For travel