limbo (eyes wide open)

dead men roam this place.
but they are not men anymore.

animal instinct reigns.
eye dilation consumes the iris, sclera.
they can see inside their heads
in clarity
for the first time.
they walk on fist and toe, like apes.
guess science was right.

it's dark here.
owls and mice are our company,
perhaps to compliment the bleak forest
of the silent dead.

we were born here without mouths
so no one makes a sound.
not even a mouse.

all anyone does
is stare at one another.
the shame of their lives
beams through their glares.
lasers of emotional communication.
most of them signal
desperation.
guilt, anger, and fear
are also common.

each pair of corneas
has a story.
and i've learned them all.
those desperate, fear-driven
men
are ex-carnies.

they all say the same thing
at the end.
"God abandoned me.
So I abandoned God."

these dead men roam
but they are not men.
not anymore.
not right now.

they're waiting for death,
or anything better
than the graveyard shift.