america, what happened

america, what happened? they found him on the backward side of a life which headed down unused words ruled his mind they were the only friends he’d found his body wore deep wrinkles so long before it’s time carved by words glued together then pasted with awkward rhymes the only coat upon his back was the silence he’d always worn and he took it with him as he left it was enough to keep him warm his daydreams left him stranded his hopes were shadows on the ground and the silent voices in his head became the evenings only sound he wore his coat of silence well and pushed the words aside shattered dreams like darkness fell and in the hush of emptiness he died when they rolled his body over the words on his coat were true “america, what happened? these words are meant for you.” © tolbert