insanity, or idle hope
sends tigers bloody through my mind
and like a climber without rope
i fall a hundred stores at a time –

insane, or maybe sleep-deprived
in pools of anguish and regret
unlikely, now, to be revived
within the jungles of this bassinet

incisors gleaming
victims screaming
can’t wake up from
violent dreaming

tigers hungry
angry, tawdry,
slips of paper
in the laundry

don’t know why
the cabinet’s closed
cannot find the
garden hose

separated from my brother
father, sister, children, mother
in the forest well disguised
hypnotized and paralyzed

freedom in the waking death
last few seconds free of breath

tiger leaping slashing clawing
it was just a stupid drawing
come to life and come to dying
maybe sleep will come
i’m trying