Shells

The universe spreads outso automatically.The gasoline pools acrossthe floor followed byrapid flame eatingthe white paint on the wallscollapsing door framesinto onyx black remains. Giants of the agesgrab red deerby the antlersand lock their eyestogether sending outa message to the forest. The young buy butaneand fold out chairswith low wage allowancesunable to embarkon any queststo see […]

Damp

The blinking lightof the lightning rod,at the top of the tallest building,sets the heart rate for the cityfaster now than anytime before.Parties rage in purple roomsthat spill out into open squareswhere young peoplewander off not going anywhere.Giant clock faces, some digitalsome analogue, competeall night with the crescent moonfor dominion over starry eyes.Men in dirty coats […]

Last Day

Poolside picturesfor sunny timesa palm treewith a machetein its side. White curtains move likespecters in the windamong glass doorsleft wide opento let air in. At night they burndry leaves and old driftwoodburied in sandand watch the shadowsof their handscreep across the coastline. This vacation from vacationranks low on the list of those past,they send a […]

Shades

I watched thirteen yearsof neighborhoods buildthere own replacementsout of spare parts, rage,and the darkest oilnobody would buy. I stood therewhen the scarecrowfell from it’s crossand rose back uplike a ragbeing draggedby it’s corner. In crowds like ocean waveswe marched outwasting days of payto keep Saturn where it should be.Not allowing that colossal ringto bend outward […]

Old Ways

A day of pouring gasolineover cardboard just to shovelall the ash pays incopper coated directdeposits afterward.The paint on the stop signsplintered from the dustnow just a hexagonpeople spray overwith their minds.I have seen wherethe city endsinto a vortexof dead endhighway exits outto sex shops and old mineswhere bats all drinkthe blood of runaways,too bored to […]

Sorceress

Her tree bark colored hairbounced while she walked downthe stone stairs, and leaned againsta streetlight while she waitedfor her ride to pull right up to her. The car rolled in straight fromthe 1960s although I did not knowthe name and the door openedby itself as if by magic. She climbed inside and it carried heraway […]

Dogtrack

A dirt patch overgrownsurrounded by dark buildingsmarked with graffitiand rusted bleachersfilled by memoriesof money madeand burned.The screens still mountednow just foggy graylike water mixed with dustand all the broken glasslike diamondslong forgotten there.Paintings of wolvesstain molding bathroomwalls while sinks leakover marble floorsand deepen the abyssbeyond beginning.There are no distant howlsat rising moonsor river crossing trainsduring […]

Youth

Everything tastes like black licorice.The window sticks.The cold metal of my watchadjusts to warmthby just this contactwith my arm.The symmetryof clock tower and hospitaldisorients me looking downafter the elevator opensto another windownot just stuck but sealed shutfor our safety.In the waiting roomthe carpet pattern swirlswith violet and redwhile a woman taps a cigaretteinto a soda […]

The Golem

The cut looks like a comet’s tail,and stalks there on my forearmall dried out now after cleaning itand waiting.A robin with one eyescarfs red berries downfrom the tree outside the windowjust above our kitchen sink. I remember my old friend,when we were kids,stacking broken bricksinto the rough shapeof a human and calling it a golem.Even […]

Music Box

He takes her out to the fire.It crackles likea skeleton falling apart,and all the musichypnotizes othersinto frantic swayingbordering on dancebut not quite getting there. They claim their plastic cupsof beer and stolen chairsand watch a fight break outover something just as stupid.Her forehead is the colorof a clementine fromthe orange burst of heatthere in the […]