A Brief Family History

A man that some call Joe the Rat
Writes letters under acronyms and
Distorts facts just to change his name.

And on fake city streets he paints
Pictures of insects the size of a whale, while
Preaching to choirs that silence themselves.

Poor uncle Leo is mad from the war
Of words that he fought, so now
He's a miner dug deep in the dark.

Old grandpa John, who's long dead and gone,
Was moderately sane, but now from his grave
He moans out in pain for what has gone wrong.

We could follow this predictable horizontal line
And find each end burned to stop us
From fraying or trying to bend,
But let's light it again with our cigarette butts.