AN EXCUSE FOR A SIGNAL by Jonathan Butcher

In deserts and abandoned buildings,
the mask of rhetoric is folded neatly
into tablecloths and rolling mats;
formed from flags, peeled from
the tattoos, which adorn their backs
and faces; a pattern smudged into
this misinterpretation of freedom.
A warm evening of psychedelics,
acquired by laced shareholders,
whose deadlines are just as tight
around cactuses as they are skyscrapers,
those blended teas, purchased in bulk,
and quaffed by the gallon, like flat,
stale champagne, that never quenches
this thirst.
And as they chant in crowds,
their attire is now a mirror reflection of movements
that mock any real decency as their voices
become clogged with unconcealed illiteracy.
They bang heads once more, like conflicting
magnets, attached to the rusted steel of which they
claim is now the way forward. 

Jonathan Butcher has had poems appear in various print and online publications
including, The Morning Star, Mad Swirl, Drunk Monkeys, The Abyss, Cajun Mutt Press and others. His fourth chapbook, 'Turpentine' was published by Alien Buddha Press. He is also the editor of online poetry journal Fixator Press.  

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