First Gong Vol. 8: Thrust FIRST GONG 8 THRUST | Page 249

REJECTION FEE - Soonest Nathaniel
Sometimes it takes four months and three hours before noon
to get offered a rejection fee,
a fee to have you quit dreaming,
a price to bury your passion,
a stipend for your honour.
You feel disappointed, but that's a good thing.
The hunger in the eyes of the disappointed shows no shame,
at least not in this city where the belly must be fed,
even if only with the honey spurn in the skull of the desecrated…
Yes, you too will feed from these skulls,
the craniums hung on poles,
poles used to mark boundaries,
boundaries between the living and the dead;
here or there are no standing spots for the living-dead,
you are either hot or cold, no god here to spew you from his mouth.
They say those who answer missed calls are lost in a flash,
but you are not afraid of mutation
you are not afraid to look back
if it is the only way forward.
You let your words take action,
forge verbs into machetes
to clear your future of its macro stench and venality.
You use their rejection fee
to buy yourself an acceptance,
life is a citadel offering no degree,
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