Content warning:
Listen for announcements.
Emergency instructions say the only things you need to worry about are
(1) Fire (2) Medical Emergency, and
The Police are dancing under the red lights
without their heads
Evacuate the car, onto the steel track
the air tastes like pennies down here and if you
hold my hand tight enough maybe we can
avoid the third rail
the crackle of electricity, the swiveling light of a stranger’s flashlight
Just a bit further,
Survival is always a pinprick of light just out of reach, isn’t it?
With our knees in the mud and sewage,
we could pray,
ask for a better second chance
Assassinate our former selves
The tunnel’s just dark enough for a confession
don’t be shy
Begging is a form of worship
Worship, too, is a form of begging
They never tell you that
there is always more to lose
See the cameras? The scintillating eyes of a million strangers
waiting for you to fall
Hands up where they can see
Higher—
like you’re reaching for the stars
like you’d let them
turn you to ash for a glimpse of god.