“living room”

In America, we say
                       manifest destiny

                        which means inherent right
            god-blessed / anointed

and providential / ordained
             by the very fabric

blown out
                         at that first moment

of hydrogen / of carbon
              and confusion. Who first named it

time? And what caused the name?
Hunting / maybe. When the animals

                          come jaunting. A pattern
              perhaps / of night to day

and seasons. When dark
                         conceals the world.

               Time / a human invention / divined
for knowing’s sake.

                       The trek west sated
                        lusts / curiosity / the need

to reach with every limb
               a full extension. In the living room

                         a clock rocks its brass
                weight / reminding us

we have somewhere
                                  to overtake

            to spread our eyes / piss
                       with a grin / that we own

by celestial ordination   
                        by the twisting tale

            we’ve mastered mything / that we own
whatever we desire.