Reverse

When I close my eyes, all I see is the displasia of the equation,

the antidote for the nation, the solution that juices the acid and the tannin and fermentation that turns water into wine or the saltwater tears

that drown all our hopes and all our fears.

Fine.

With eyes open I see the hate, the loss, the lies and the cost of the lust.

The longing and the loss of a life spent waiting, thinking, dreaming and writing with the hope of going somewhere, anywhere and making anything for anyone, and so I close my eyes again.

When I close my eyes, I see colors and visions, not prisoners and prisons.

I see hope and pain, sorrow and rain.

I could keep them closed to end all the years to erase the waste and forget all the fears.

But they won't stay shut, they keep me awake.

The eyes see the prize and the fries and the shake.

They push me to squint and to tear up the verse, smash up the prose and write it down worse.

Eyes open or shut, now which one is worst, it seems like a dream but this one is reverse, I see acid and tannin and colors and visions.

My mind is the captor, the warden of prisons.

It won't let me go and it won't let me stay, I guess I'll just stare at the sun.

That's okay?