when it feels unreal

TOOL, GM Place, August 22, 2006

18,000 warm, anticipating bodies

formed a snake around the building

friends in the wrong line up met with friends

who met with friends long lost to other relationships

an introduction to the breath-consuming sourness

of another’s disregard

feeling violated after the innocent perpetrator (just doing her job)

confirmed i was harmless

excited, searching every which way

for other friends long lost to busy lives, for now

we would not know tonight how isis sounds

as we zig-zagged through swarms, a dotted mess

a man with one right number found himself

with one wrong number, rightly mine

the seats were there to tell us where to stand

as the band embraced our ears and chests

pseudo candles, smoke in green lasers

a white stage lit with moving images

a paper candle nearby sends smoke my way

my lungs incapacitated temporarily in distress

intermission brings a rest, four people seated while

18,000 throats go hoarse and twice that, hands numb

two hours in five minutes disappeared, and it’s over

we scream and exit in deafness

friends meet friends, and in cheering agree

the experience was more than worth what we spent