Sign of Belonging

excuse me for a
                  fly in the window
and an hour before the bus takes off
should i wear my curly wig?
will that stop the fire in the mountains?
alfred packer built a good car
but the muzak on the rock station
being beaten by his father
                  horrible        that's ridiculous
let's pose
the fly's walking the sill outside the window trying
to get in
and people are looking
                              drinking coffee
still an hour before the bus takes off
couple walking out of the cafe
matching blue shoes
shows they bought them together
though hers are dirty now
his clean        a sign of belonging
still an hour






from The Troubles (1993)

Abstractions

i have drunk my own blues

i am drunk on them and your fury

i hate it that you may get killed
for no reason by a hand so like yours
that it might as well be your own

i hate it that you've made a wreck of your life
that you subvert your own fury with your own
ultimate silence

i hate it that your own dead body
shot or coked out
may lie on my doorstep or feet from it

i hate it that you may cause my death
as stupidly as you cause your own

i hate it that people glory in this







from The Troubles (1993)