Archives :: William Taylor, Jr.

The Factory of Dead Things

Appeared in the 1999-2004 issue.

I have seen a lifetime of dreams
like so many birds
shot from the sky by some redneck's
gun.

I have seen the horror of life written
in the eyes of stillborn faces
like chapters from a dimestore
novel.

The days arrive on my doorstep
straight from the factory of dead things
and I line my hours up against the wall
and pick 'em off one by one.

There is a strange music in my head
and it sounds like the suicide
of angels.

and I could not tell you which I am more
afraid of;

life or
death.

I try explaining this
to a friend over many beers on a
monday afternoon

and he suggests a change of scenery,
perhaps a trainride to somewhere I've never
been. Familiarity breeds
contempt, he tells me.

I suppose he's right, but
then again
most things do.

View bio information and additional poems published in Half Drunk Muse on the author's main archive page.