The Prodigal Son (4/5) By Joe Hakim

(1/5), (2/5), (3/5), (4/5), (5/5).

something moves over the sky/ blocking the light/ and the outline men's signal/ and the ceaseless chatter stops/ just for a minute/ and time slows/ and gravity pulls me down/ and back up again/ as the fires behind my eyes/ burn the present/ and torch eternity/ just for a while/ and then I'm back/ and i look down/ and there are a new set of scratches in the arm of chair/ my mark that says/ I was here/ and i will be again/ and then i pass the pipe back/ waiting for the orbit/ to bring it back around into my atmosphere is that good shit or what?// graham asks

but i can only nod and smile/ from behind my canopy/ as each re-entry gets harder/ because i want to stay in the firmament/ where I was created/ because even though i know i'm still in my larval stage/ soon I'll have to return home/ and become my true self/ be re-born/ and leave behind the weak/ biological machine i occupy now/ but my patience is growing thin/ i can't wait much longer

let's go out for a bit// i find myself saying// we need to study the enemy so we can mount an adequate counter-attack whatever// graham says// so long as you're buying the paranoia has crept in by the time we reach the pub/ the chemicals have vacated my location/ graham seems alright, almost relaxed, as we sit by the bar and order our drinks/ if we went anywhere else/ we wouldn't get served/ but this is a broken place/ filled with broken people/ and no one notices another set of damaged goods well, this is shit// graham says as he stares into his pint//

shall we go back and finish our gear in a bit? my gear// say hey, who got you the fuckin' gear?// he snaps/ which worries me/ because his annoyance could be the avenue that lets them in

i pass him a spliff under the table/ he takes a deep toke and passes it back/ i don't like smoking weed when i'm smoking the other/ but in situations like this/ you need something to take the edge away/ something to help you survive in the vacuum without exploding a bunch of lads come in/ and i feel menacing vibrations emanating from their direction/ they look over at us/ and straight away i know that their leader is an outline man/ even graham can sense it and he's an earthborn/ goddamn it/ graham's negative energy allowed them to locate me i don't like this// he says// i can see us gettin' some aggro here

i lay back and drink some beer/ letting the coolness of it slip down my throat/ the lads are looking over at us/ disgust barely contained

Continued...Next Page (5/5)

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