XIV

memories always sally forth
oh my word, how they sally
sallying like wild nudists,

charles manson has this song about a black pirate
a black pirate lives in this one corner of charles manson's mind

charles in the corner, smiling like a burning bush
holding a tiny black pirate
cupped in his manson palms

30 years after the murders,
charles manson is in this corner
glowering at the old hippies

"that shit
god dammit that shit
fucked the counterculture"

my dad used to say when he was drunk,
dad the drunk hippy vet
in his corner crushing a tiny charles manson
in his freddy palms

my mom used to say
she would go in my dads pockets
and find secret candy wrappers

secret snacking dad,
secret snacking daddy a-wanderin'

"everyone has their secrets"
mom smiled and said

i used to walk around looking up
and wonder what else dad had in those pockets



looking up at the sky
you dont see the shit on the ground



so you sometimes step
in it


in the shit

XIII

it was bare as a storm eye,
but like all things, it collected little items

little items on the way

so when i woke up, it was covered in oogles
they flailed through the wind,
through the sidings

out here theres a light behind the mountains
but you know it isnt coming from the sun

called ourselves freedummies

didnt have much by way of defense
against questions
against q's

"why do you do that?"

i could tell yins somethin',
but when i start havin' a life
i start feelin' dumb

i smile at people on the street now




keeping quiet
out back counting my power
looking at the black spaces
in the eye sockets


XII

my libido feels low
should i take something for that?





it fit all weird,

on purpose.







Arabella cradled a dead knight underneath the linden

Where else would I have expected to find her

in a sundress like that?





Nobody gonna fuck with you no more
said my neighbor who sells crack











she looked around and noticed that I
had tried to hide my nagel print in an inappropriate hiding place











"nobody has a messier room than i do!", cackles the jamie cat,
then he looks out the window and looks a little worried,
ruin on the mountain




"doc, they put me up in this hospital for i dont know what the fuck. i'm sayin, i stay in my head, i aint on no crazy shit--let me up out this. for real, i'm sayin, im 32 years old, grown man, you heard? doc, you look at these youngsters, they wild, they on crazy shit. they dont know how it get done, they stay up at they mama place. i'm know i'm right, when i was 23 years old i had my own spot to lay mine, i was making my own cash flow. the youngsters stay up in they mama place, even when they family dont want nothing to do with them, and them boys buck down on some shit, they bringing pistols up in the house. i got a lady i lay with up 65th and last night her son come home real mad or real scared. for real, he walking around the room cocking a shotgun. he looking out the window saying if he see the police come up the house he gonna blow them away. and i was drunk, im laying on the bed telling boo to give me her hand so i can get my ass up and get on out of that house, but she off hollering at her son, and he still pacing the room looking out all them windows. he saying he going 187 on any fool that step to the house. i still on the bed, i cant get up, i was drunk, but i look out the window and i see a police roll up front the house so im saying hell no get me out this spot i aint getting shot because homegirl son trying to fuck with 5-0. i see the officer coming up to the door and boo son sticking that shotgun out the window on the other side the room, im covering my eyes like a child and i hear the police man shout like "oh shit" real loud. i aint heard no shot so i look out the window, i see the man down behind the cruiser on the radio for backup. boo son moving to other windows and he shouting and swinging the shotgun all over, boo down on the floor hollering and she crying and saying "please RJ, put that gun down" but he aint listen and come over to where i be laying on the bed, and i saying something but he tell me to shut up and he pointing the shotgun right out the window and im right sure that im going to get shot by the police or boo son, but i cant get up. then about three more cruisers come up and all them police get out they cruisers with they guns pointed at the spot windows, and boo son holler something murder and pull the trigger. Im knowing, I'm dead. I open my eyes and I see RJ spraying at them police, but he only shooting tiny cats out the end the shotgun, and them tiny cats come out the shotgun and they running around the yard front the house. police be behind they cars with they guns, watching those tiny cats running front the house."







'all babes must fall'

XI

Lifestyle Poem #1

Familiar with black escalades

And secret little boogies,

Those naughty boys,

They ran out of the corner store

And away from the sirens,

Those banshee sirens


Lifestyle Poem #2:

No, I haven’t gotten around to that yet

I was busy with my life, slow bearded and fighting doggies

but

Those boys!

Those naughty boys!

They don’t do anything!

Your front wheels thieved on Telegraph

Your lips shiny in sly bars

Where you got down,

I guess

I was dripping water in the bathroom

Wondering how poop got on my towel

That’s why I don’t shower too oft,

But just wait with the door closed