Puppet X,2 Poem by Jerry Ratch

It's important to sound
human, I know

To get fragile
near your
mother

I myself
get glimpses
now and then

Once:
eating chicken, staring
at the inside
of a muscle

Once
during a bad thunderstorm
while running down the stairs
with a stick
to beat off the
survivors

And again
when I had such a fever
that I was off
in a dangerous century

I began to suspect
the reason the trains kept
growing in the basement

Without terror
or beliefs

The telephone rang
and then the dog
sang...

I saw how we had been
all arranged...

Now we're narrow
and unreal

I am not required
to speak

One day I discovered I couldn't wake up again
and I've gotten used to it