The sugar bowl, right where
I can keep an eye on them.
& that rusty spoon, that bent
Up piece of scrap? Hold the warm
Metal to your lips, my little man.
It’s been burning, buried
In my chest for years.
At the very bottom
Of my spirit I have
Bright scissors & a
Deep despair, knowing
The panty-clad gods enjoy
Each our selfish moments—
All the slumber-party-
Handcuffs. The slow dancing
With pillheads. O to smash
Up this endless hallway—
Life’s swelling sickness.
This hate mansion filled
With hospital moans.
O to be unsure in any
Flesh. I’m right here
Beside you. Don’t cry.
Let us be true
To our own
Oblivions, the
Atom bomb
Cradled in
Our mouths.
How the heat
That blooms
When talking
About graves
Collapses the
Room each
Of us carries
Inside. O perfect
Beasts. O raunchy
Goodness. It
Only hurts when
The heart purrs.
I stare out the window, dead-
Weighted with the ghosts
Of all the pretty voices
I’ve known. Waiting: there’s
No loneliness more pure.
Just close your eyes & then
Where’d everybody go?
Each moment growing
More & more full. Swaying
Husks of the forever-standing
Sunflowers. Shade giving
Purple to black as the hours
Pass. Echoes of last night’s rain
Fingertip over the birdbath’s edge.
Sparkling ropes of light, the drops
Dazzle through the nearer dark.
Maybe You’ll Be Young & Pretty Forever
Afternoon sunlight
Hammocks through
The rain-laden
Lilacs, beautifully—
But it’s no balm.
Daylight carves—humidity
Curdles the air—sharp-
Edging our shapes,
Illumining our despair,
The wretched beasts
Inside us. I know
You’re tired, baby,
But it is what it is—
All of our bones
Will quiver & snap. Please:
Tell me that you know
All things will ultimately
End. Please: shout, No, no,
No, everything will last
Forever. Soon, night
Will cloak in with an owl-
Colored darkness webbed
With the dull ember blush
Of sleepless street rovers.
Pearled, languid. How
Lavishly our hurts glow.
I got to have whip-
Smart & boom
& no one’s
Getting any—
Midnight’s jiggling
Light says
Last call
& doomsday
Or everything’s
Going straight-
Up live voltage
&
