He Got Air Christian Slaters On

1. He couldn't have a job dressed like that

2. Window shopping with your mom

3. The pretty girl wore a magnolia bloom like an extraterrestrial shield

4. Someone cleaning their Lexus spokes was murdered Tuesday

5. You'll pop an eye out with those rockhard nipples, baby

6. Free beer tomorrow? What kind of asshole puts that on their body?

7. The mail-ladies' shape-ups: grime, canines, and guile

8. The baggy dress shirt

9. A Southwest ticket away from your sweetheart

10. Your mall, your life

11. Gay people in denial

12. Artisan worries

13. Pulpits with Peter

How Quiet Are The Streets

When dusk draws nigh
and the glitter of aggregate
paves the way for the outstretched mind

photographs of old
twirl to the forefront:
hats of spurned wool
and mustaches cocked rightly

women proud
of first ballots

men quiet in desperation
schoolchildren singing gaily,
a whippoorwill's star crossed notes

and the horses restless under heavy load
the pipes a-blazing
and fatback a-sizzling

rumors of past fortunes
nuzzle the mind with dreams of taking it easy
hearth-talk and wrought-iron
are the fodder for which
societal this 'n thats
flux and churn

old dentures, now home to crappies
A needle, the infernal prodder
of chicks, under hay beds

My heart seeks heritage
my home lacks homeyness
but the zeitgeist of old
still wrings my soul

Lifeway

Had two lives
Reborn into Limited Too jumper
We had pendants from our grandpas
scattered across the wood panels of our den

a murderer and a mouse,
both two-timers
from Kingston
wiggled through Miami International
and
found the Zef daughter of an HR Block accountant
rigging a tourniquet
for a small bird
with neon green shoelaces