Reported Dreams

the third baseman of car lights
mother's other toe
reported dreams
nightmare problems
this neighborhood

the excitement of used lightning
she asked me
cleaners at four
this night this slice of
these streets are dangerous / backsliding
becoming me
there was no romance in this
still committed into bookstore
now even get it together     where?     how?
just something waiting for us
saw it in her eyes
perception of reality the night if only by a little
rainstorm home

she asked me if i could walk her one block home
this night this slice of foggy streetlights
still committed jurisdiction of the courts
there was no romance in this
and the streetlights weren't overtly scary
just something     waiting for us

the fortune cookie fortune says:
when you have to deal with something
deal with it

i could see it in his eyes
has claws and waits for you     just you
around a corner of your building     and like it
oh     how     killer

abstracted as pass the salt

gotta stop that     line drive
where? in one of the most beautiful cities on earth
rainstorm diets fade the bookstore perception of reality
killers roam streetwise            dip long fingers
into public wells of abstract knowledge black lace and headlights
coming at you like a line drive
the third baseman of car lights
gotta stop it     throw     him     out

in some persons this abstract forgetting
what would you call it?
as being part of themselves
lamplight haloes round entire neighborhood
paranoid rage they raise their toothpicks slowly
you know     urban     dangerous and sexy
like erroll flynn
as the walls bleed / killers make lace deep
in imagination /
in severe persons these nightmare problems
the first eight to ten years

when you deal with it
you just deal with it
if only a little sells then perception of night
dwells around your building like suffocation
we see monsters out there but their shadows
go a lot deeper
these haloes     extortion of used roadblocks
they raise them     how would you say?
extreme anxiety     fun at the malt shop
in some persons eight to ten years
and now     you seek     them out

after that     a lot cleaner /
feeling
lightbulbs     come on
in their pants
they walk
zomboid and sexy

you
the perfect escorts







from The Troubles (1993)

sucking your blood

sucking your blood
like reverse gas pump

into his tank
under the tuxedo

dracula
oil






from The Troubles (1993)

Inside the Harbor

in death its eyes were still open
neither one of us could get it to speak true

a small boat of ribs afloat in a blue lake that night
like cats fish massaging against its thighs

the next time i met you
i was directing traffic out of a storefront window
dried fish hung around my head like dead angels
that was seven thousand years ago

i saw you standing in front of the glass
and unzipped the door that was yours
you had with yourself the pleasure craft
you wanted to trade for dragon horn and ginseng

i can still see that light in your eyes
i'm still looking for a cord to that lightbulb

all our boats ride mechanically now
all our fish carry red plastic lanterns








from The Troubles (1993)