SurVision Magazine

Devil's Dream


if it dies, cry larceny
and don't dare make amends
with some idea
for the sake of hopeful breathing
bury it and be wronged
and let loss fester until
the wound is full of maggots
and the hate turns lungs black
run and tell the others
and give no quarter
to such things as resolution
when the blood calls for redress
drive nails and dig holes
under the cover of madness,
watch the congregations flock
to burnt suppers and there
with me in a Sunday hat
amid the cracked roses
breed plague and destitution
vicariously for the masses
yet the tides change
and the dirt turns, soon
you are forgotten too, and I
take no solace in any of this





James Wade lives in Austin, Texas. His work has been published in The Bitter Oleander, Skylark Review, Jersey Devil Press, Bartleby Snopes, etc.