Oh, you, and your blistered cheek
The moon is delicate in its marooning around Earth Park
Bashful and better learned than I
Certain and ply
After a changing of the guards
Hand-offs and briefs and such
I take a cigarette without lunch
My stomach sucks and plucks like an instrtument of service
And the moon takes a space as large as the sun
Curating a room to be damaged and stuffed
With inordinate courses of gluttonous fluff
And in moments like these, I find the actual moment itself
A gentle breeze, because it's the only word so fitting
Bathes the shell in which I bleed, with simplicity and scents of quiet age
Nothing is ever simple
But my chest moves expertly
Nose wrinkles shrewdly
And my eyes appear soft, curious again, like they used to be
Gladdest nights, I’m only here for the promises
Spell cast on a lonesome buoy bouncing youthfully in the striped horizon
To a slow dance on a perfect slant, floating the lake speckled with dock-lamps
I breathe because, every so often, it feels good
The stars look honest
Better than they should
I think they’ve forgotten their place
I think they’ve forgotten that we’re still in the fight
Better them than us
Their pretty lights trickle down from the overtown
With their lawns of clouds and waste clarifying on the way down
And I admire them
Because it’ll end like breakfast
Like a letter suggesting you vacate the premises
And then they’ll turn into colors brought up from the receptor working itself to death
I think that it’s pertinent these times catch up to us as we’re tripping over our awful wit
I reposition before one last glance
One last stitch in my hip
Utter bliss, I fear
With cracked lips spilling salt, I wet them and forget why I came
I’ll be here again
Before I’m out
“Lemon drop, pretty please, with sugar on top.”
Yes, a swift labotomy with a fatigued hand is a must
I’d love a thump on the temple for a detail in the plot
But only if you insist
Once a month
I do
And once a month passed like summer
Another time, it was a long minute
And then a year
And then it didn't
The time just carried itself without a shadow
And I stayed to fill out a little
As if that was the problem
I help people find god
And I help them cure themselves of one
I listen, but I do not talk
Ghosts in the building, some real, and some not
They spit politics with veneers that look like vampire teeth
Boasting of children they’ll never meet
And they always ask about me
How are the seasons?
Did you leave yet?
They dont ask if I'm in school anymore
But they ask where I went
And I tell them everywhere, except all those places I haven't been
Speaking Portuguese with the locals by accident
When I was thinking in English
Drying my feet off in the communal shower head while listening to Danzig
Dining under the universe's expanse, visible from the northernmost harbor
While the white waves reflect each other, tongue in cheek
Like they communicate behind us while we’re looking
I drink water for free from my hands
As I stare into the rocks that shimmer with sweat like an awesome abyss
I’ve seen a lot of people who look just like you
And in their mornings, they dress better
And when they rise, the view is much prettier
And we’d have conversations like these, but with a mind to chew and chew and release
And they ask
They ask me
You just graduated, then, yes?
Sure
If that's what you’d like of me, yes
Can I get you another before I leave?
My hands are smooth and pale
And time is gracious with me, slow and full
And I’ve left before
Many times and many more
And, Sir, I’d like to leave again, while the seat is still warm