Skipping Rosetta Stones Across the Backs of the Ages

by Ryan Quinn Flanagan

The dancing bear does circus tricks,

piñatas on the cover of S&M Monthly,

and my days are filled with little more

than laying here

staring at the ceiling

waiting for the muse to arrive

with the fire.

Skipping Rosetta stones across

the backs of the ages.

There are large craters in the couch upholstery

from where the heels of my idleness

have come to rest for far too long.

I run my hands across the contours

of another wasted moon landing

and wait

for it to get dark.

The dancing bear mauls a midget,

shadows dance across my walls;

sometimes a foxtrot

never a waltz.