METAFESTO

locked in tiny verse,
my words are like kids
or worse:

better seen
than heard.

(talk about old-
fashioned.)

in this age of slams and self-
confessing, this way seems so --

funny
there's no shorter way
to say --

minimalist.

but this life has switched me
into the younger
brother: tough.
keep your hands off
my stuff.

my words
are like the paralyzed
army men i placed
all around the room,
prepared for doom.

here's how it is
also the same:
the battle never came.