Arguments like parched persistence

The dam is near
as unsightly as it may be
ingratiating itself upon our shoulders
like scattered bread in palms
salient greenwood skylines
for the vagaries of death

The frightened evening dam
tokens too loose for cover
boiled cereal before the mast
sailing windpipes of agri-futures
a dormancy of sounds, like brittle waves
under the skin of soda ash and the trappings of arteries