In a square cracked mirror
Of a motel bathroom
Mere yards from the highway
And speeding 18 wheelers
Where whores and drug addicts
Pay by the hour
And homeless indigents hang by corners
Holding signs of ragged cardboard
Where desperation lives
Despair thrives
And jesus is something you say under your breath
Or the lack of a reason to wake up tomorrow
While god is alive in the static of airwaves
And billboards that stare you down
He died for your sins
They tell you
And you wonder what you got
For his effort
And how many sins will be
Enough
Where death the Great Equalizer of us all
Hovers in wait,
Ready to pounce
And your days are numbered
You just don’t know how high
Blood red lipstick
Streaked across silver
Scrawled in a shaky hand
Bleeding at an angle
Denouncing, declaring, decoding, defiant
The only thing that is yours alone,
The only thing that’s yours to keep
The one thing no one can take from you
Without your explicit or implied consent
D
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