Last Line Of Defense

The crowd waits in the humidityfor the night to start and thingsto brighten up again.A boy and girl become the last awakein the abandoned houseand sit with their backs against the wallamidst a strobe light.They show each other knivesthey carry as a last line of defenseout in those sagging streetsthat drift apart like ice sheetsin […]

River Valley

In this valley where the oldall live like teenagers.Their curfews breakand law comes downlike cold hail.Bats swarm togetherlike a moving cloudand yell their waybetween dead trees. In this valley the wintersmelt off slowly into rain.The grass sways like watchingelders in the erratic breeze.The trees birth only poison fruitsthat look almost just as appetizing.Fights end only […]

Roundabout

Guitar strings in a coilon the table by a stack of booksleaning crooked overempty plates and coffee mugs.I promise not to move anything.I step into a loose pile of clothes. A framed painting of the cityhangs in momentary shadeacross the eggshell wallthat doesn’t keepour secrets from appearingto the neighbors,who do not give a shit at […]

Justified And Fair

No one knows where you areso you infest your lungswith sweetened smokeand walk from storeto crappy storeuntil even the crowdedsidewalk can’t keepup with you. Tiny belts around each thighsome metal rings above your eyeand another hanging looselyfrom your nose.You take a break against a walland while diagonal from your shadowyou imagine feeling recoilfrom a rocket […]

Flash

Green light through a glass doorglows in pulses with a humming soundunwelcome here.Marble eyed avian shadowssoothe the branches of the dying treewith the caress of their old feetwrapping around them.The neighbors moanlike ghosts in sleepand traffic from the distant roadspreads light acrossthe corners of the ceiling.Mad dogs run their fleshagainst the asphalthowling deep intothe dark.A […]

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 […]