The Levity of Construction

What do I ask if nobody is here to answer?

I saw the last man leave the earth, his body carried

by four million one hundred forty-two thousand fifty-seven ants.

The ants I knew, the ants I created, I made their kingdom and…

and carved their dungeons. Let us go to the sandbox,

let us shape the world. Andrew let us lay down our lives as the earth slips away.

Lunch is not a question of sandwiches now, and I don’t think it ever was.

This bright blue cup, my cup, the only thing left, is full of smoke.

The lunchmeat is gone and my lettuce is wilted.

Four million one hundred forty-two thousand fifty-seven elephants

inadvertently kill me, each one taking another thought,

elephants filtering out the torrent of ash in my head.

Their hands grab me – no not the elephants –

these behemoths thrust me into the fabric of space,

through the purple winds and the noise of everything green and ugly,

They pull me through the emptiness of us.

The needle of time frantically working to fix my damage.

sowing charcoal thread into the indigo of all of our skins.

She looks at me, this keeper of time, and stares.

I can only reach back as I fall into the rustling, whispering sea of mouths.

The shining mouths that sprinkle anger into me.

They told me I was better off alone if I kept bad company.

Now there is no good company left and this pit is killing me.

The climb down is long but I will just fall.

I am not dead to you, just forgotten in time.

I stare you in the eyes, but you do everything to not see.

I implore you, was I bad company?