the bushes
verdant, shallow wall
sparrows dart
the sun breaks
in lazer beams through
bare spots
blinding refractions
in white graveldust
collecting
colloquial
condemnation
in a curious culling of
canine devotion

the branches tear
as i push my way
into the hidden panorama
of precarious paradise
torn scraps
flags of surrender
as the topiary gives way
exposing a
second manicured set
of leaf laden security
serpents coiled
in frozen serendipity
baubles of venomous deceit
shivering in the
autumun chill pervaded
by golden daggers

a third, fourth, fifth
barrier of bushes
as i cut a path
into the heart of this
sundered prison
fevered from the fervor of
snapping jaws, fatal flaws
corpulent disasters in
a maze of manic dismay
another empty lot
the casual droning of
delineated congestions
disingenuous derailings
in labyrinthian malaise
i falter
halt
letting the vines
curl around the
remnants of rigors
haunted thrombosis
another entangled skeleton
reaching towards
the diminished light