inspirated

holding firm
means holding out

on everything i hold
dear to me.

near, enough. little sequences and affirmations
conveyed through the various tribulations and trials
of our old time namesakes. 

well, well, well.

i was only as good as the first trick and the second trick and the third trick in my four-trick repertoire
by then, they probably knew,
better than i knew myself, 
what trick was lying in wait

for them. fangs drawn on,
angry eyebrows painted just
above wide-eyed surprise.

cartoonish malevolence.
constant mocking, airing
the grievance and the disappointment

passed down from the first of us
to carry the torch for something we loved
and couldn't quite bring ourselves
to say out loud.

not even when the time was
long gone.