Like cement,

Kiowa whispered in the dark

The guy’s dead

he kept saying

This is all wrong

He felt paralyzed

They found jokes to tell

They made themselves laugh

He thought of new things he should’ve done

but it was so much more than that

Scary stuff

Sure, just kill him

It was cruel

but right and wrong were somewhere else

You see ghosts

You blink and shake your head

This isn’t real.

I can’t remember what real is

You hold your breath

I’m not dead

But I could be.