one hundred seventy three

American
space age hungry mouths
napalm marrow spinal column
hydrogen lipped
petroleum mouthed
one billion hands on the moon
one billion hands choking at one billion unborn
one billion burning in the heat of their breath

Saturday April 26th, 2008
one hundred seventy two

all this blue
like pale eggshell sea
like lips at the gin house
like black flies and shrapnel

Saturday March 29th, 2008
one hundred seventy one

an old red fire
and the face of an old red man
like empty cigarette cartons left on the sidewalk
Krishna lived under an old city streetlight and when little boys or little girls passed he would turn his great eyes to their small pale faces
Joshu met a wild dog on a mountain
A woman met the devil down in hell
he was an old meth man, hunting for cans and bottles
bull faced pale red boys
like gasoline and lime
everyone called him bones he was old old as old he told me once half drunk and bawdy about the beginning of the world blue bright eyes like gasoline fires dripping out of his face in the dim I chuckled at his stupid drunken jokes I took him home I put him to his old man’s sleep and before I left him he told me it was like some bright flower in the dark

Thursday March 27th, 2008