Spitballs and Evergreens
VCS

Wrapped in torn remnants
Of papers
With names and places
Most of which mean nothing to me
They have stuck to me
Like spitballs
Cast by naughty children
Sitting bored
At the back of math class
Immobilizing me
Pumping me full of immortal resin
My soul pushed and pulled
In a stream of paperwork
I didn’t start
With a zip code written
On my DNA that branded me
Before I was made to order
Like a homunculus with no purpose of my own
Full of amber sap dripping from evergreen trees
Buried under the earth
I ring my bell
I’m still not dead
I’m still not dead
I ring my bell
From my tomb
Encased in my mummy suit
made from ancient scrolls
I never read
I’m still not dead
I ring my bell
My soul is my own
I did not choose to speak
Yet I must
I will not be an Immortal Buddha
And once more I rip off these
scabs of paper and emerge newborn
from the grave you’ve already dug for me
Because I’m still not dead
I walk the earth
I ring my bell
I sing my song
I will not drink the poison
The evergreen is ever dead
But I am not
I’m still not dead
I’m still only just a new born
Ringing my bell
As my cry to the universe.