You’ve been
walking backwards
for so long
it doesn’t feel
so awkward
anymore.
In fact, it has
become the norm
to claim your side
just scored. The goal
has always been
to pass along
the road from
Washington
to nowhere,
this can that’s
taken on
the contour
of an intricately
dinted, infinitely
polyhedral
soccer ball.
You’re hoping
there’s some road
to go yet
so that when it’s
your turn
you won’t turn
to find a wall,
given that all
the experts
you have heard
have warned
that the can,
once opened,
is sure to air
a generation’s
worth of
worms
and that whoever
opens it
will be the one
who has to blink
into the light
and squirm.