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a prayer

Geoffrey Neal

give us this day our daily dosage
of the disenfranchised the disallowed the dysfunctional and the disaffected
those in need of a psychic disinfectant
the disproportionately unseen neither grasped at nor held
neither contracted nor contacted
neither completely containable nor fully explainable
never taken into consideration never part of the equation never even thought about the solution
never lended never leased
could say should never have been released from the womb or from the cell
doesn't really matter which path is taken to hell
never good better best
never given a rest from without or from within
never quite enough clout upstairs or down
never should have been given the key to this town
this day most unlike the most—give up your ghost

i'm inside sipping coffee you're outside on the pavement
i'm inside surrounded by cigarette smoke you're outside surrounded by the police
i'm inside intact and unnoticed you're outside bleeding and photographed
i'm inside with a crowd you're outside with a crowd

give us this day our daily ghost
our daily phantom phantasm nightmare
creepy holy jesus mary and joseph how in the hell did this happen
our daily exercises with the insane ballistic free weight
our pretty flashing blue lights
our helicopter
our prettier still sterile plastic cordon
our portable telephones and powerbooks
our get that damn thing out of my face before I beat your head in camcorders
our audio feed our video nutrient
our next god could i use a cigarette
our twenty-seven cent refill only cost them a nickel and by the way you're out of cream
our acknowledged sense of need for a depressant
of some sort to black out all of this white white white noise
please take me out of the realm of the overwhelmed
our sensible shoes to get the fuck out of this madhouse
our morbidity
our curiosity
our remote control—