Promises on the Lam

Promises on the Lam

They jet through the air,
burrow like maddened moles
through muddy, moist earth.
No one has seen them made
or heard them made:
but
a promise is a promise,
and, by God, once sheathed
in its shell,
it will be kept,
delivered, fulfilled,
redeemed.
Or it must flee
frantic,
find a place to evade
the memory brigade,
grimmer than pallbearers,
shields glinting righteous
in the blazing light,
creaking leather,
harnesses and holsters,
terrible tasers and sticks
black as a bruise
and hard as a brick
to pound a promise
into compliance.

TES
May '09