Jack in the Box

Time slips

Like dazzling sand

Through your fingers

And into your memory

Soon you begin to realize

The truth between the broken glass

Under the dusty rug

Deep within the closet

Your life has been covered over with tar and topped with feathers

Black

Ugly

Sticky

Messy

It’s all a joke

Here comes the screaming laughter

Next comes the standing ovation

Your skin is glazed over with burning, searing muck

Your eyes are clamped shut from the pain

Your mind is reeling in every possible direction

Your tongue is spitting lie after lie to paint over…

Over what?

The image in the broken glass?

The ghost under the rug?

The skeleton in the closet?

It all comes full circle

But all you can see are squares

You’re lost in a life that’s not yours

Dreams are as close as you come to reality

And existence…

Still hasn’t existed