#NaPoWriMo 2021 Day 23 : “Stumble or Shuffle In, It’s All the Same”

Stumble or Shuffle In,
It’s All the Same

place packed
in rebellious denim,
front row filled
with the hawkish

they paw at the author,
shy, a silhouette
too outstanding in
a sea of razor pain

clinking glasses
are a tune-up,
cleared throats
clamor for attention

forget pins, they’re
dropping big names
in whispers, fragile ego
at coat check

pseudonym on the tag,
the art of hiding out
mastered, slipping
in before last call

to glare accusingly
at a waiting stage,
lights hissing in
anticipation, this whole place

a pit, obvious
vipers, oblivious
victims, & there’s
ease dressed as a nurse

medicinal mediocrity,
doses we can handle,
fractal sentences
& no debris flying overhead

microphone screech,
“I am no prophet”,
but he proceeds
to tell us about

our fragmented selves,
jams all our broken pieces
into one monologue
so we can quit

cutting ourselves
off from each other,
so we can feel something
from a human voice again

the scene is set for
chatter or disaster
but no one’s sticking around
for the ending

no one’s got nowhere
to be, no one’s
closing it out, no one’s
even listening