i.

Training to wreck, present in absence
always waiting for him,
anticipation falls with warning
failure takes for granted,

almost regret when wanting now what
then seemed ambivalence,
surviving executioner’s work
want crushes any head

heavy with moments to sudden ends
burdened by ambushes
leveled against his best intentions,
defending him’s war since,

          burned out turning whatever your hands
          offer into smoke, brings

                    ii.

through those porticoes of palaces
of silence that kindness
met in ritual, consummating
in trance acceptance, yet,

he my heart hurts for expects damage,
cracks in the pavement stretched
over scorched earth where prayers emerge wrecked,
stars to read in dirt bled

by heavy steps backward future tense
lies constellating then
into memory’s lamentations,
pearls pulled to surface wet,

          when remembered, culture importance
          regrets cultivated.