• A monster sits
    behind these walls.
    It has
    no teeth,
    no claws,
    but still it can take life.
    Its heart beats
    from the break
    of dawn
    to the fall
    of night,
    pumping blood through its veins
    in the shape
    of desperate men.
    Its stomach boils
    and churns
    at all hours,
    dissolving flesh and bone
    alike
    and belching deadly gases
    into the dark sky.
    Its lungs fill
    with air
    and poison
    and life.
    They empty
    of despair
    and smoke
    and death.
    Its endless reach extends
    across the land;
    carrying back
    car
    after car
    of sacrificial lambs.
    It eats
    and eats
    and eats,
    this monster
    that has
    no teeth,
    no claws.
    It eats
    and says
    "Work
    will set you free."
    Behind these walls,
    a monster sits.