No Spiral

(or Slow Descent)

 

the ran

A mobile of clowns hover the baby's soul

moan lullabies

pick the bones.

A quilt of swans circle the nuns

sift down

to smother

the mother in snow.

 

__()__

Mind Police 

In this bed you'll dream your first

dream.

Everything in this world

contains some level of toxicity;

 

anything that doesn't kill you

makes you stronger.

Take care of yourself; no one else will.

 

Scenes of worldly violence

weaken the spirt, bind the shame.

 

Like the bed-ridden child

who begins to see the landscape

of nature

 

in his own body

his masque

my face

 

Makes no difference

what floor you're on

when you're dealing

 

with the mind police.

 

___________________

pOEMes II

4 InterzonE

__________

 

 "he plays the game with whiskey

and rope; he does not heal.

The biting, teasing, the spurs

and foam: they live on prairies of fire

losing everything they ever worked for."

 

the ran

_________________________

Tecolutla 

 

balladeers in white they wailed

the smooth serene that mexican brand

of blues unwound - we order mescal

cheap from the bar of seaweed bark

for the balladeers from off the street

they sang and colored that gulf coast

 

night an almost blue & always black

the gulf of mexico mexican night

 

& on our leave we walked the windy

back road night the sandy trail

the homeward route & this is where

i lost my sight & slipped or slid

the home field seam the easy way

& tripped across the football husk

the hidden fruit the coconut.

 

 ~{}~

 

Safety in Sex

 

There's a spot

Of oil in the lamp and animals

Screaming near the window.

 

Let me cup

My hands around your eyes and silence

Will begin our evening.

 

The flame bends

To your breast like a finger and eyelash

Burning footprints on my skin.

 

II

 There's a spot

Of blood upon your bosom and a note

Pinned to your dress.

 

Let me cup

Your mouth with mine and dance

Words on our new tongue.

 

The flame bends

With each gusty breath and names

You choose to call me.

 _______________ 

 

Hat's Off

(for Joan Vollmer Burroughs)

 *

You rarely slept in N'orleans

wakeful as you were on paper extractions

 

Broken inhalers, their component

forcing a housework mentality

 

Scrubbing pans, hands & toilet bowls;

Jack watched once at 4 a.m.

 

Your raking of lizards down from a tree

toward the finished line.

 

Moving to Mexico City & morphine parties

with your husband, William Tell, one night

 

Beat up gin-wise & on the down

you insisted he prove his skill

 

For protégée marksmen, placed a champagne

glass upon your head, then slurred

 

The words "Ready, maestro."

William heard not the shatter of glass

 

But that dull thud of a bone pocket

as your red dress crumpled to the floor.

__()__ 

 

Hard Drive

(for Gysin)

 *

Motoring crowded streets

the mind's attention on automobiles

 

There is a fraction of a second

the turn of the head & then back

 

where registered in hard-drive

is a profile of memory:

 

The female form

Long hair & floral print dress

 

The darkness of a doorway

A bird in a wicker cage.

__()__

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