manifest destiny

shades of gray clouded every street

and the crumpled paper skies began to unfold

surrounded us in exponential quantities

and swallowed every definition whole

the last body of land

was dutifully noted and ignored

and the entities beyond my hands

we're brushed closer in a comb overboard

an illusion of stillness

has overcome this newborn ocean

in the air i feel each subtle movement ripple

like a rock hurled across the surface

this is the limit of my reach, stretched out

for all of the water to see, and recede

for what it was worth, i reached out

as far as the firmament allowed me

as far as from sea, to shining sea.

from sea to shining sea