Lotus Gait

I have this recurr- ing night- mare: flailing pigeon, her broken feet frozen solid to the freezing pavement. I turn away as if I do not see. I have this child- hood me- mory of my+ old +++man screaming +++from the driver's seat to turn away from an un- folding horror, but he +++could not un- do what I had seen. We never spoke of it +++++again. Two more hap- less cit- i- zens of ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++the+new+post+trau-matic stress world-wide dis-or-der. A stockholm syndrome fifth est- ate, desperate+to batten down the mount- ing horrors and shuffle++on in a glo-bal lo-tus gait. Content+to marinate in+the plas-ma glow of the home+enter- tainment prisons we commune+be-fore like dime-store shrines. Are these but vo-tive lives? It's+a strangled, twisted truss that shores- up each of us. So+any-thing to dull the pain of+a splin- tered lot- us gait. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++As+for+me+a fili- gree of psychic police tape tends+to cordon-off the dar-ker scenes. But+the+wander-ing mind stum-bles through it and+re-lives them all e-ven- tually. Pries o-pen wide your eyes and+shines a+painful light on+the guilt, the fear, the shame. The courage never came ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++from+the plasma glow+of the +++++++++++++++++++++++home+enter-tainment prisons+we ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++cling to like dime- store shrines. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Are these but vo- tive lives? Conservative at heart. A +++++++++conformist from the start. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++A++++stockholm syndrome fifth estate. A +++++++stagger+-++ing lo+-tus gait. It's+a strangled, twisted truss that shores- up each of us. So+any-thing to dull the pain of+a self- in- flict- ed, cripp- ling lo- tus ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++gait.