BARRING PRAYER

a highway above the highway
I'll walk, carrying a circuit of few people
in my ribs and whatever organs still carry
raccoons will be there with me
falling into the river on each side
splashing in deep exterior

life never felt is born for a long time
life I never bore is flung walking
shoes are little animals too
and they carry their lives over a river of tar
and the evaporation of history
claiming neon territories
for the heart and others

she knelt once in an organic place
pooled with lights from under the mantle
that she had gathered
in gelatinous cluster
a prayer of public wings, secret as the stomach of a doll
highway above the highway printed and churning.