halt! the toll booth requires

an extraction of a piece of heart –

emotions gone awry, like a roller coaster

this one is downhill. grin away till

the uphill looks too long to battle. halt.

screech away, with burning tires not wanting

playtime to be over. hell is a bouquet of lies,

sweeter than sugar. hell yeah. i”ll take it.

heaven is conscience pricking, what a prick.

shut off those ears, no need to listen to a gentle

nudge when hell screams, thunders. i want it.

easy to ignore all else when the ride continues

on with more extraction of a worthless heart.

makes no contribution, makes no progress,

just damnation. who wants that?

envy is squashed when forbidden fruits

are taken from grandma’s closet. all that sugar

is bad for you – the rationalization is convincing,

the touch is soothing, the heartbeat feels natural.

this is for your own good, this is for the.

another great dip, with hair whipping past

shadows, till shadows themselves flee from

emotions colored like rainbows.

who needs a promise? the verdict is already made,

with toll requesting nothing but a priceless

pearl because nobody wants that. damnation. self

sacrifice, self control. a persuasive mind locks

flailing arms, open mouth in place, like still captures

of a motion flashing by. caught it. the ingredients

are all carefully labeled out, with words substituted

but legally correct. they just don’t create the panic

that might come. a heavy bottle sinks into the sea.

no struggle, no dissent. reasoning is the devil’s forte,

after all. and as for heaven? a heart given readily

when the price is right. it made no sense at all under

scrutiny. but hey what the hell: hell is delightful, playful,

mischievous than plain boring angels singing in a line,

a choir gone sour. then sweet. sweeter. with angels of light

removing damnation, fire, mundane banal boring old.

they even throw in a freebie. a 50 percent discount

to take on another dip! then the eclipse it came, a sudden

shift, a spell removed. with this old heart searching

for meaning – given willingly to a bundle of squishy,

funny, lovable lies.