OTHERWISE

OTHERWISE

“The poets help enslave even the best of us to the lower parts of our soul; and just insofar as they do so, they must be kept out of any community that wishes to be free and virtuous.” Plato 

handle the narrative
we need to get a hand
on the narrative

otherwise
don’t come crying to me
when you get
handled

when you get written off
written out

hear a voice in your head
narrating you, got you
down to a T
got you
there on the page, down
in the text, character in
a story
anything but
open ended

not seeing it coming
(foreshadow radar turned
down
    to zero)

the final sentence of
the final chapter
(should you
even
be that lucky)

closing on you
slamming shut
like a great iron
final door