Abstract Poetry: “Twenty and Six”

words
oh, those forgotten swords that once
danced through our ears
and tantalized our bones

no teeth
forked pledges
silver brothels
only peace
twenty and six alibis
strung together like beads showered
behind the sun

when, I wonder, did the valley ears
turn coat?
join the machine of vacant clouds
over shallow, cowardly graveyards of
the unimaginative

who woke the dreamer?
told the virgin:
drink flesh
renounce ink
dare not shut both eyes again for I can prove
twenty and only five

Written by Brandon Loran Maxwell