well-oiled

i tend to believe that

i will get to experience

the fruits of my labor

one day

but like a slave

after emancipation

there is work tomorrow

to do or find

that tenderizes me till

i’m raw and branded

and forget what it was

i was supposed to

experience or believe

*

i am a body

disembodied

from people who

were the same

till i re-embody

the world as

i see it

and as those people

saw it

and said

maybe there should

be something different

to look at

*

give me love

love

for i give you

myself and

i know it is not

as good

*

i am told

that that is how the world works

and maybe

it is untold

that the world doesn’t work so well

despite being so well-oiled