fraud
a tight grip suffocates every impression from first to last
i keep my spine straight and eyes forward just like how i practiced
because it takes but a second
for the strings to tangle and the wood to creak, and then i’ll blink to find
myself already assigned to the third place podium
in a different definition of no rest for the wicked
my fear keeps a tight leash on the fourth sin
such that if the end of the world were to appear on my doorstep
there would still be dignity in pleading the fifth
by the end of it i have become an alien to the narrative
and yes, the furthest separation is only the sixth degree
but now that this character has learned to protect my pride
i am skirting the edge of the seventh
too far gone to end it now, i wait with poorly concealed relief
for them to call my name in the eighth circle