Long before Harry Houdini
Locked himself in the East River
We’ve been suffocated by the Incredible
Slipping farther towards syringes and decomposed mobsters
While our breaths burst ashore
Surface dwellers watch the waters
As an escape king works his magic
Breaking free from what some thought
Could be his tomb
Our tomb
Risking it all to achieve what was thought
Not possible before
For every generation, an Amazing Houdini
And for every Houdini another step
In an attempt to escape
Only later
Far later
When us Robo-Houdinis leave our bodies
Our souls
Or whatever we’ve become and
Are splattered across the universe
Only when we forget our mothers
And our breakfast cereal
And our dogs
And our favorite colors
And the people we once loved
Will the quest for Incredible finally rest
Sure, we will leave our predetermined destiny behind and
Instead go swimming in those murky waters
Contracting typhoid fever or perhaps some far-worse disease
After all, otherwise we would still be in caves for all you care
Picking each other’s noses
And grunting uncontrollably in a pseudo-primate gangbang
But, no
We wanted more
Something far more primal
But far less animal
Had us believe
In something more
Now
As you fidget and tug to remove
Whatever leg irons and handcuffs
Have been placed upon you
As you kick and scream to force
The rope and nails from your
Underwater packing-crate sarcophagus
Will you be sure which side is up?