Captives

my language unspins
and it rolls through their drums
to a foreign beat.
what offerings can i take today?
two wind-burnt lips making a smile
or a pair of anxious eyes?
what about the hands under heads
pressed like stones to their desks?

these are but casual invitations.
i want to gorge their tongues with
good conversation and burn
behind their eyes new meanings--
have their fingers stretch to the ceiling
without my appeals or the crash
of my golden bell.

it is a new year.
they aim for all horizons
and i will watch them fly.