Rock Bottom Riser
︎︎︎ Philip Traylen
︎ Apr 15, 2026
They say the city never sleeps but actually
it’s the people in the city who don’t sleep. The city conversely
is wallowing in some utopian coma and our footsteps
only soften its cause. It knows
it’s right, this is clearly evidenced by the bushy
grasses which surround it, like a crown
nature just can’t help putting there.
I mean seriously, think about the sky,
is it really necessary to have so much encouragement?
And yet still we lie to our mothers on the phone.
Great art imitates nature which is to say
it’s nice, it’s appealing, like a mountain hotel
with a convenient lake. Sometimes you can swim,
sometimes it feels good just to look at it. It’s easy
enough to say Jesus wasn’t real, or was just some
lazy historical figure but try
saying that when you’re underwater
and he’s there too, swimming around like a dolphin
and you know the sun is going to set
on top of it and leak down like
so many gold rings that fit perfectly now
that there’s no air left in your body
it’s the people in the city who don’t sleep. The city conversely
is wallowing in some utopian coma and our footsteps
only soften its cause. It knows
it’s right, this is clearly evidenced by the bushy
grasses which surround it, like a crown
nature just can’t help putting there.
I mean seriously, think about the sky,
is it really necessary to have so much encouragement?
And yet still we lie to our mothers on the phone.
Great art imitates nature which is to say
it’s nice, it’s appealing, like a mountain hotel
with a convenient lake. Sometimes you can swim,
sometimes it feels good just to look at it. It’s easy
enough to say Jesus wasn’t real, or was just some
lazy historical figure but try
saying that when you’re underwater
and he’s there too, swimming around like a dolphin
and you know the sun is going to set
on top of it and leak down like
so many gold rings that fit perfectly now
that there’s no air left in your body