trying to
weave my way
through the minefield
in my mind
is playing
sudoku
with the finesse
of seppuku
the numerics
out of sync
with the blade
in my stomach
questioning the honor
in quenching the steel
in random digits
clenching
the slick hilt
as the crimson
stains
the squares

there is a
fragility
thick veins
tracing through
the hard
i am a mine
on the verge
of collapse
the rigidity
denying flexibility
as the drywall
cracks
from the serpentine
tectonic drifts
my dayglo indifference
sloppily applied
mascara masquerades

kneeling in
circumstantial
supplication
incapable of
adding the numbers
as they trail
along the damp
intestinal display
cascading
across the laquered floor
signifying
the inessential steps
to being
another stained
demagogue
pleading the case
of why his emotions
are valid
validating the cost
of parking
an overload of feeling
into a
compacts only space