"without shutters"

"without shutters"
all things considered by jake kilroy.

we couldn't bury the shadows.
we dug and discovered.
we glowed and burned.
we went hungry and mad.
but we couldn't pull out the blood.
the curses spoke for us,
leaving our tongues black.
we went to the churches,
but even man can't save spirit.
we stayed indoors and let the ghosts drift,
out there in the wilderness of the city.
good or bad, we weren't sure,
but no holy men were on parade,
and we were mere workers and artists.
the lanterns beat their final breaths.
the beds were as warm as they were cold.
hot showers felt like a new limbo.
with no decisions to be made that bare.
we valued our fingers for their tempest nature,
and we hurt like hell but we felt like heaven.
it was the longest year we had in us.
we were only a stone's throw from the bottom
and just one chance leap from the top.
we were all things considered.