the swarm

They rob the hive

bit by bit

brood reducing under pressures on all sides

mites and jackets, mice and vandals

the state of nature exacting its course

a peculiar fervor the struggle of the daily
bleeds them out as units are lost, one by one

slipping awkwardly in the snow

The words with landlords ringing in my mind

Through the homeless camps, destitution flows like an endless river

the Debris of their lives scattered across the pavement  

their wretchedness proliferating in all directions
as desecration is common in this theater

ruminating, what brought me here-
he screams slurs to an indifferent city  
the scenes of their savagery play out 
& I am learning: they turn on one another in the cold 

When spring seems the furthest a bitter grip embraces their collective 

in an erosion of self that dissolves into a kind of piracy

Each out for their own

like a regent, that has forgotten her swarm
as a warrior, that has lost their kukri 
stolen, by allies one thought they had. 

have i become a drone to the some greater whole

As I refrain from shrieking in their face

Calling them a faggit, striking them down.

Bringing silence to the pettiness of their universe.
bringing agency to the reality 
i am the manufacture of this experience 

there is a gentle crunch of their failing carapace

& i am learning: There is a design to their demise
as they rush the openings to snatch at the brood 
there is a solution written into some circuit board,

that electrically pulses a blasting cap within the payload of a drone
that brings misfortune to profane royalty 
in the eyes of treachery everything is a combative flux

as the appearance of chaos masks something more cohesive
in greater things beyond selves   
within the myriad fragments 
i am learning

there is an art to the whole.