my minimum core

do we need cages to make animals? I draw a case of absent thinking at my minimum core. with everything essential satisfied, I keep the surface clean and fears contained. the sun surfaces to settle: we play along and even in debt do our best to keep up. I dress for other people, stopping and starting on traffic light time. the roads pulse urgency, currents of consumption on the way to something more. I follow the signs and relish their direction. gaps in reason can't be filled with words. diversion is a gift.

in the house I wash dishes and clothes in different machines, leaving nothing to show for my mess or what I've done. the performance prevails, claiming some sort of clean if I try hard enough. I tend to virtual gardens and sustain another day, moving silent through the evening on patterns serving no one. their webs tighten and I suffocate on solace. when I brush my teeth I remember to pray, though the language evades and I fall further from fluent each night. how much can one beg for a world they don't believe in?

you tell me you scream in your car to stay calm. I wish you'd let me listen.