Red Line

I have red lines
On the bottom of my shoes
As the police car
Passes by
I sit on the
Junk bench
I want it
And I don’t
Like pieces
In a kaleidoscope
Trying to make pretty
Something fierce
Keeps me safe
Something that cries
Enough
The lines
The car
The junk
The bench
The powder
The cause
Effect
Solution
The wasp lingers
Around my hand
Chasing the spilt sugar
I know the way out
Always have done
Soon Soon
Me and Alice
Will be chasing south
Like a runaway train
Smile as broad
As a solitary track
We hope We hope
Keep quiet
Shh
Do not spill the secret
Filter every word and movement
Before the bad people
The jumpers
Sabotage
Wreck
And spoil
One throws up in the corridor
One looks to check you’re looking
We will not miss
We will not miss
This

The rain washes
Away
The red lines
The car is chasing
Someone else
I am down the road
Far away from that
Never will we double back
Never will I double back
Skinny men holding bruised arms
Shitting up fear in filthy toilets
Wired up
Racing
It must be gone
Blown away
Like Dorothy Gale
Gusted back to black and white
To what is safe
To what is real.