if big brother insidious then big sister benighted
on the telephone you become somebody's blister
this is how

not-kingrichard on your feet and in the night
the crusade in new jerusalem
happening on your behalf
your knights move against each other
you are black and you are white
you are glass and marble
(and hey if the child bleeds how will you know)
england is so many miles away

this is how you become somebody's sister
if he can ask for himself then maybe you can too

they handed us rotten coils of rope, my little darling, my fondest hope
planks crumble and raccoons take up residence, oh baby who is not my baby
the gods in our house
blazed through the sky in their chariots
one heading west in the morning
and one heading east
that is how they played it
it worked far better than if they had carved the same path

if i am thirteen and you are five
how can we be the same
we share the flouride and chlorine stains
in our teeth and hair
what did we know
they way they talked about us to each other
we listened too closely
our obedience is spun so finely
it's almost like wearing nothing at all

he says the name over and over again
so its written down with meaning inside our cheeks
i get cankers
you repeat
i've spit out everything that is my mouth
but on the phone is a full blister