Carl Hauck - Zhuangwho
A child wrapped in wonder, staring wide-eyed at the sky
Guided by a weathered man quoting billboard lies
Skylarks soar among silver sheets with glowing seams
Over fragments of corruption held aloft by rusted beams
A vendor selling seeds to men to plant for future Eden
While his stock boys in the cellar stir cement
Is this balance perpetual, and progress just conceptual?
Will hunger always call a hand to feed it?
Though scoreboards speak of dynasty
And cracked pillars whisper ruin
There’s a boardwalk between air and sea
That sings a different tune
Give it all the time you want
An era or an instant, but for each
Shot of hyperbole
There’s a pond somewhere to chase it
Pouring through magazines, examining the shells
Forcing study of anatomy, new philosophies of hell
A solid tone blends with many songs of utter dread
Butch and Sundance leave the building, twenty-seven dead
Oh, the joy of riding trains and taking aim at roaming horses
The rationale arcane, unexplained by any source
Is it boredom with contentment or implicit self-defense,
Or frustration with the imagery no longer making sense?
Though scoreboards speak of dynasty
And cracked pillars whisper ruin
There’s a boardwalk between air and sea
That sings a different tune
Give it all the time you want
An era or an instant, but for each
Shot of hyperbole
There’s a pond somewhere to chase it
As ventricles and vessels clog with nuts and bolts galore
Extra condiments and toppings aren’t the problems anymore
Who needs tears or feelings with assurance of stability?
Veins for shielded cables, brains for spreadsheet tables
Only in this place could one score locker room blow
Abstain from lucid inquiry when it would surely hurt to know
An absence of dignity and surprising lack of shame
Unannounced, Unprovoked, not easy to refrain from
Though scoreboards speak of dynasty
And cracked pillars whisper ruin
There’s a boardwalk between air and sea
That sings a different tune
Give it all the time you want
An era or an instant, but for each
Shot of hyperbole
There’s a pond somewhere to chase it
