Ted Burke LIKE IT OR NOT

 OF LINES

This line is the

end of an era

or the start of

a whole new

big bang

from which bold

experiments and

odd comedies emerge.

The line is drawn

or it is uttered

or it falls from a

telephone pole

when the wind

gets snark

and forces

our existences

into inane ironies.

Alone in cold,

dark rooms

as it storms outside

and the

shadows of branches

seem like jagged

scolding fingers

in the remaining light,

we hold our dead phones,

we flip

the switches

that ignite

no light ,

we talk to ourselves

in prayers that

resemble sobs

as the house sways

and sharp

blasts of autumn

air finds the window cracks,

the lines are down

in all regards,

the lines

that bring us

voices

and light and a

sense of

making sense

in an existence

that won't explain itself

or apologize

for the inconvenience,

We need

a connection

to something

that keeps us

in a dimension

we've learned to loathe,

better the

devil you know

we might say,

Every line

he utters

is a lie

but we understand

the language he speaks

and the

light he wants to remove.