he is momentarily distracted by the light

his
the vicious lungs
the knowing eyes
the frozen cheeks
the ardent voice

who is the hypodermic?
who is filled with a poison bible?
who is a teat of bile?
who is the fly on the ball?

his
the leftover privilege
the revolver dog
the feathers of iron massage
the candle of blue veins

who is the relict of Buchenwald?
who is the tallow of black magnolia fruit?
who is the kindest loin of a tombstone?
who is the good gambling father of a bludgeon?

he turns back to his work and chews his way out of a corpse

tony-boy sits
under a salt tree
growing a crust.

he molts three times a day.

a bowl full of mousebones sits in his lap.
he mumbles a skull song
while sifting his fingers
through the white skittles.

he would prefer to be alive
and living his vision of accountancy
and fuel-efficient cars.
he would like a marriage and a stable
full of tony-boys to love and smash full
of his dreams.

instead he’s stuck with a salt treehouse
and a magic bean. one at a time he stretches out the worms
he’s been asked to keep safe until they break. he strokes
his way toward an absinthe horizon.
he pretends he is a doctor. he demands a lawyer
who can defend the rights of chiggers.
he thinks an Indian chief would starve if
subjected to an entire forest of salt trees
dropping salt leaves on the ground
even though the deer who flock to feast upon and suck them
are too swollen to escape,

much like tony-boy,
who sits sobbing under a salt tree
and grows another crust
once the scabs from the last one
have fallen.

Drive to NYC: Like the old days, except without beer. Thanks, Sam.

Brooklyn: Bad Veggie Burgers, Crazy Gallery Owners, Great Cubanos, Trophy Showing, Great reading, Fictional ceviche, Amazing cheesecake.

Drive home: Like the old days, except without police searches. Thanks, Sam.

Thanks to those who showed up: host Susan Chenelle, azureflame, geminipoet. dura_luxe and Erik, eliel_lucero, drgeorge aka Sam the Shotgun Rider, Marty McConnell, Patrick Rosal, Barbara Newsome, and all and sundry whose names I’ve forgotten or don’t know. (If an lj person was there i didn’t mention, speak up!)

dead_kitty, I missed you. Next time, then?

lowhumcrush, I missed you too. A lot. So very much. Don’t hurt me!

seracy, thank you for the totally sweet and amazing phone call!!!! We need to talk soon.

mahoganybrowne, sorry — it just got too late and we had a long drive ahead of us. i need to try and book a feature at the Nuyo soon — it’s been a couple of years at least. we’ll get together soon, promise.

i’m feeling a tad better. Yesterday met with therapist and we made a small meds adjustment. Seemed to help, although i’m getting tired of adjusting all the time — still, as this progresses i suppose it can’t be helped.

Sorry, indeed, to scare folks. More later, ok? Gimme a day or two to think.

Onward.

T

home safe. details later.

a wise friend of mine once said that if you think you’re headed in the right direction, keep walking.

well, i think it’s time i stopped, at least for a bit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

if you’re coming to the NY show, i will see you tonight. Words of Wisdom reading at the Spoken Words Cafe, 226 4th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn, around 8:00 start. Open Mic followed by three 20 minute features: Barbara Newsome, Patrick Rosal, me. Right now, that’s the order.

after, i’ll either be heading out for ceviche with geminipoet and eliel_lucero and who knows who else from the Acentos crew and beyond, AND/OR heading down to the Nuyo for a bit. hey, mahoganybrowne — what time is that slot you asked me about?

then, back to town for whatever’s next.

i’ll have my faithful road companion drgeorge with me, as in the olden days.

this trip means a lot to me. i hope to see you there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

also: if you need me while i’m in the city: cell # 5 oh eight – 9 four two – 4 one two four, k?

please, if you can, come to see the feature i’m doing in Park Slope, Brooklyn, on Wednesday night.

it’s at the Spoken Words Cafe, 226 4th Avenue, at the Words Of Wisdom reading hosted by Susan Chenelle. Open mic from 8-8:15 or so; we’re on after that.

I’m featuring with Barbara Newsome and Patrick Rosal.

Please come, it will mean a lot to me.