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METAMORPHOSIS
shoelaces are puppies
from The Rock on a hillside
a dreaded descent into Hell
our Valley of Heart's Delight chewed by bulldozers
a moulting Hieronymus plane of orchards
emerging as Silicon Valley
that premonition
fleshed out in excruciating detail
is finally contradicted
this world doesn't mind such a way of reporting it
nothing is disturbed
yet nothing is as it was
it cannot be called personal
hold up a cup of tea
and see just that
who sees?
talking with a neighbor
who is probably a million years old
is just talking with a neighbor
somehow the galaxy is out of sight
even as we stand on it
water is a universal jewel
sparkling like a spiral nebula down the drain
no need to clutter it with stars
lives are made of the same stuff
with different faces
LEMMINGS
got my tinker toys
everyone thinks they're real
used to be you could step off the edge of the earth
that was one
one of my favorites
a Monopoly Get Out of Jail Free card
or the take Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty
the New York subway
( a place I never wanted to be)
Oxford English Dictionary was undisputed King
words like these scattered
in wrecking yards on the outskirts of town
old car parts along the bay around Palo Alto
greasy and mostly worn out, with some were almost new
fit them together for something altogether different
like a sprocketed chicken basket, for instance
or the preamble to a speech never heard
visited by sun warmed sea gulls
old speedometers now useless
truck doors with cracked windows reflected in mirrors
and in the afternoon, thick dark roiling clouds
that obscure the edge of the earth
and make one wonder
secretly
if anyone else noticed
or even missed it in the first place
just that the failing light does make scrounging
an urgent business
Chevy, Ford, Buick and Oldsmobile in the dying light
deathless chrome
the last glitter
all those tokens drifting down
sounds of evening traffic
Tarot cards
Ouija squeegees
a rich soup of carrots and carburetors
lining up on the page
soldiers with marching orders:
don't look back
glory to the King, down to the last
right over the edge
RELICS
new rotary sprinkler heads are more accurate
they miss the side walk
but the desert is reclaiming us
LA might earn the moniker, Death Valley West
as delta farmers sing, hey!
our ancient water rights remain
long term forecast: drought
our Governor fears war
oh, but of course it always rains
maybe not like clock work
but just wait
which we've been doing for a long, long time
“brown is the new green”
not ailing lawns but lack of respect
is the real question
what will neighbors think
when unwashed we begin to stink
though the mortgage needs regular watering
“poor fellow, and he worked so hard”
and food disappearing
and everything running on empty, out of gas
and the rain flooding other states
hail storms, tornadoes, then heat waves, then the Arctic Blast
Hetch Hetchy, once full to overflowing
where did your bounty go?
La Mer
cracks in the edge of civilization
might be learned from reading the works of others
there is no dearth of realistic assessments
drink a glass of sea water
but there is no particular source
or just wait by the edge of the sea
and perhaps it speaks or a twig snaps
then transcribe
describing poppies, revelations and sauteed fish
shining sunrise glimpses
perhaps sunsets that snag emotions
these are dragnets that cannot fail altogether
what matters is given
an astonishment of pebbles and psychedelic dreams
stories of Madame Marla, street crews and visiting birds
and reflections of my teachers in boundless space
and in my wife and Tabitha
but right now there is nothing much to say
best leave it that way
EXORCISIM
when Susan's closet door is open
the monsters can escape
they hide down with the shoes
in the shadows
gerbils, pterodactyls
unimaginable fiends
she understands this
and mostly keeps it shut
Tabitha understands this
a slightly open cabinet door by the kitchen floor
invites an investigative paw
which pries into the secret place
where she disappears
to commune with demons?
secure a sanctuary?
anyhow, now both doors are closed
it's late enough
the alarms of the day have mostly ceased
and we can begin
but
wouldn't you know?
I forgot
SALAD GREENS
dark horse cellar door
a Frigidaire safari
the lid is blown
well intentioned bits of sanity
fly overboard
into a black hole
pine needles in a hurricane
I am unreasonable, nonnegotiable
in the era of electric cars
comforting words are buggy whips
and the words of this account
riding syntax and grammar trains
with great momentum
are relics of their own definitions
in that black hole
the pupil of my eye
