tides they change

and leave the bones, rocks, broken glasses to be seen: change. morph. weep. a cat leaps out of the bag, then returns quickly when larger predators hang about, swimming, circulating to find a weak spot the pirate tries to flee enemies eager to hang a vile man! but it is too soon, said the juries when the sea tosses turns and dyes a man black, red and purple and of who he is, we know not. pssst. the administrators nudge the vacant eyes for the sharks are coming from afar, making haste because justice has been slow, restlessness becomes chaotic. rebellion, a pull back, an undercurrent strong where dyes get pushed out of skin, coloring the sickly green mother trying to handle three jobs, while her parents themselves cannot stop wailing that the crumbs have long since been eaten. no more, no less, just hanging above water level a soft gentle wave means a suffocation, a dragging down into where bones call bones, "we're lonely here" and psst ... ... the juries nudge each other, let's not wait no more news will come, perfection dribbles out of idealism a balloon shrinks when cold air hits, drooping heads in a classroom filled with weary kids, exhausted from the last exercise regime, nodding, falling, till the hand slaps come, wake up. yesterday's left becomes today's right, brackish waters form as the pendulum goes too far, the ding dong bell signals that the visitor has long last arrived then judgment will be swift, mercy drank like gold for paradise is found only in a belief. aye, aye, says the clergy man to the rich man weighed in sin, you're forgiven, then takes his money willingly given. thank you he said, bought a new paradise and then the ding dong sound came again, another visitor enters the house, the pirate dashed out with his loot, told the sharks: get the juries now before i lose my footing, and they did, they were without justice, jaws clamping down hard even as innocence was cried out, no more, no more cried the next visitor who finally laid hold of the pendulum, no more, stop moving, be still, he said sternly then did the bones, the broken glass and rocks rise to the surface, the beliefs shattered like a rainbow scattering when brackish water settled down, lukewarm became hot, cold, distilled.