36 fighting fists
in which a fool and his anger
are soon parted
by denial depression destruction deception
here comes the flood
and i’m falling failing fooling flailing
a flaming fleet of sinking ships
trapped in a whirlpool
over empty space anyway

but i can’t taste, hear, smell, see or feel anything

what is my story?
who am i to me?
a fool or a king
or 5 other things?

1979

49' 2" Paul Bunyan: "Hello there, little man!"

[silence]


49' 2" Paul Bunyan: "Yes, you in the Star Wars Cantina t-shirt!"

[silence]

4' 11" Jack Lord: "Uh..."

49' 2" Paul Bunyan: "Why don't you come over here and sit on my foot?!?"

4' 11" Jack Lord: "Uh..."

49' 2" Paul Bunyan: "C'mon little man! I WON'T BITE YOU...... MUCH!!!"

Grace Kelly 1953 

collage 

closed for repairs

way into the midnight hour
wind chimes sound off from the porch
in this dim light there is nothing
nothing and then some more

(time passes and shifts)

jonah was swallowed up by the whale
40 nights (or maybe 3) on the wide open seas
moonlight through the blowhole
passing time by making up things
holding a séance inside the beast
losing all hope of ever being released

finally when the great fish disgorged him
he felt the warm wind the west wind
on his pickled face
things were ok
drinking a two-olive dry martini
on top of the leviathan
all the way back to his place

i
deploy descend destroy dissect
myself
scare scramble scream at
peel back
recreate
turn the page
words or worlds are meaningless
when you split them apart
formless
insane

jesus went to the whisky a go-go with a whip
and he said
"the world's a mess... it's in my kiss"

----------------

there's no sun up in the sky
grinding down in this empty space
to languish in an ambient grief
resolve replicate repeat myself
needle stuck in the groove
what comes after my blues
have covered the earth?
where is the end in sight?
to sleep in an all-night reverie
on a cloud of flannel sheets
and cat whiskers in my face

perhaps the atoms just let go
(how to destroy the earth)
a promise lost leftover languishing
smoke & whiskey smoke & whiskey
swirls on the ice
my funny valentine break my heart
into the black into the black
swirls on the ice
how to destroy the earth
let go night people let go
the hounds are upon us

slightly stone cold crazy
going places i never wanted to go
no more burn only silky sips of salvation
things fall apart fresh & raw
old rasputin a knife in the dark
black moor the hounds are at the gate

get behind me satan
jesus check your head

falling from a great depth
now i got worry
marcello mastroianni
m is for martini
cold fusion nuclear solution
living fossil newborn waste
blue olive blue orchid blue train
dreamland iris recognition manic depression

my chemical romance is a mephisto waltz
time passes
we leave two-step imprints
across the chronal surface
night and day
grim fandango and me

john the baptist a burning sign
eating locusts with wild honey
reading tea leaves and peyote dreams
his third eye speaks:
“make way for the reaver the scythe the pale horse rider
the ax is already at the root of the tree”
a dragon’s tooth under his hairshirt
“I predict a riot a rampage a killing spree”

last of the prophets to jesus he said:
“it is you who should submerse me”
and jesus said:
“the only way is no way
this is the way it should be”

and so jesus snaked off into the desert
for 40 girls in 40 nights
the lords of dogtown and traveling pants
sent runners into the wild
looking for some sign
finding nothing but insect wings and viper trails

ceiling fan diffusing out
empty pint empty bed empty night
when your lover has gone
when your feet hit the ground
atlas cant lift it
the weight loaded stacked compressed
cant even get his arms around it
an age sapping his strength
prometheus chained to a rock
pulled down undertow understand underneath
his heart a feast
john the baptist cleared the way
into temptation turmoil treason