Cold Glass Tube
Lawrence Arabia
When I was a boy
I had a nervous twitch
Bullies noticed this
And they harnessed me
To a red brick wall
And they admired me full
And they laughed at me
But they built my heart
So I sawed and sawed
Through the tight-knotted ropes
I was sucked into
A fluorescent bulb
I became the dust
That illuminates
Public lavatories
And downtown office blocks
And in my flickering
Adolescence, I saw
The accomplishment
Of many Monday goals
My companions died
Of electric shocks
I was left alone
In a cold glass tube