The Cerebral Catalyst

Captured,
and locked up
we go to see them —
and wonder what
they would do
if they ever escaped
from their trusted
steel bars
muddy glass
and worn grass,

figuring ultimately
they would stomp
us, shred the
very threads of our
skins apart,
and eat us alive.
And yet, they don't.

These same
animals we stripped
from their natural
habitat and family,
of colors
and smells
genders and size,
we home them
in stones of mortar
and pools of blue.

Never quite learning
from them,
we go back into
the free world,
with vicious lives
of hate and war,
murders and thieves
atheists and science
that knock on
the flesh of our bones
inside the cages
of our ribs,
they never escape.

Inside we are
all animals,
not living
on instincts
but a consciousness
of right and wrong.
The jails remain
an open door,
in we go
out we come,
and still
never learning
how to be
human.

______________________________________
Anthony Liccione lives in Texas, but his heart resides in New York. His poetry has appeared in Indite Circle, Gloom Cupboard, Mastodon Dentist, Paper Wall, Locust Magazine, Straight From the Fridge, Great Works, Lucid Rhythms, Death Metal Poetry and others. His latest book Please Pass Me, the Blood & Butter is available at Lulu.

posted 01.28.08.

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