Ringodom Or Proctor

Angel D. has come back to say

A piece on your early practices

When they took shape the heaters melted metal on the ceiling

My dad heard you propose a plan

We'd draw a map and escape the house

A car hits the barricades,

the summer smells, the street,

try to climb in a window

I was listening through the floorboards

Bad news for our fifteen-year-old

The little brother didn't know what happened

At my desk I read the stories

That make sense of a whole life's entirety

At my job I make the entries

And try to cross every boundary that I see

In a box entitled "Memories" of the years that passed

I stowed away a special gem for two

When the wine glass shattered against the mantle, we felt somewhat scared

And never left the living room that night

Angel D. has come back to say:

A jealous brother always gets his way

The firefighter turned around and walked away

Johnny why did you hate me then?

I just needed your attention

You paint the walls, the attic's done, a civil war still rages on

At my desk I read the stories

That make sense of a whole life's entirety

At my job I make the entries

And try to cross every boundary that I see

In a box entitled "Memories" do you recall a name, a face,

a distant voice crying out?

When the wine glass shattered against the matle we felt somewhat scared

And never left the living room that night