spray paint

the sky is feeling really sick. i get orders
from a political flyer to paint it blue
so no one notices. i can't tell if the flyer
is handwritten & meant just for me
or if it came from a little machine
with hands like my father's. i'm ready
to do anything if it would mean we were
happy again. we see crows on the fence
of one of the nearby farms & you tell me,
"those aren't actually crows, those are
blackbirds." the blackbirds are looking
for any wedding rings they can steal
to make portals out of this world. 
they slither through & end up somewhere
with candy in the water. i do a bad job
of painting the sky. i have a can of spray paint
& i write my name & my lover's name.
at least this way every time i look up
& i see my mistake i'll remember i love someone
enough to want to pretend i am okay.
the blue i picked is too bright. we are cartoon
living. we & sitting on the half-grin of 
the waning moon. soon we'll fall into
the ocean & have to watch daytime television
with the sharks. i tell the sky i am sorry
she is so sick. the politicians have a meeting
about how sorry they are. they are 
always so sorry. then, they dress in nice clothes
& kiss each other under the sky they
made sick. i don't want to talk about bills.
i don't want to be protected by my overlords
i want to be protected by the blackbirds
& the crows & even the sky. i want to paint
my body blue & crawl up there. let the clouds
lay down like big dogs around me. my lover with me, 
the sun tasting citrus & sweet on my tongue 
when i open my mouth to laugh.