thinned from yearsof smoke & drink& now the strokemy father died inhospital shittingthe bed but nothis bed & isn’tthat just like himmarking territoryuntil the end

my motherdied beforeshe saw thisday a sixty-sixth time,the cancerseeping intoher bonesshe thoughtonly back-aches &her cellseating awayher cellstoo much,too every-where todo morethan acceptthe inevitable& hospice& thenmy sisterwatched herthin &two weekslater whenmy motherleft shewent quietin the night,no rageagainst thedying light,one momentthere & thenext roundgone, nursesplying midnightfloors […]

they came down the streetto the wailing child & theflashing lights, the hospitalshrugging the curb, a pileof steel & cinders & dust& the sky a ragged woundbeneath the screamingjets & the mothers roundwith agony & meanwhilethe madman in his bunkershoves tin soldiers acrossthe table […]

rip wiresradiate myarrhythmicanalog heart radio dialsclick & turnunnumberedstations tostatic bliss the battlelines aredrawn bypoor boys& cosmonautslost intransmission

a dead eyegathers flies from skeletonpockets, sunflowers bullets, bulletssing a lullaby

after the dawnbombs after the bombssnow after the snowsilence after the silenceshock after the shockblood after the blooddefiance

I’ve triedto escapethe pasttoo manytimes & nowthat bastarddrives a’68 Chargerso watchout sonhe’s comingup fast

standing onone leg inthe middleof traffic isa good wayto test yourmortalityespeciallyif you alsoneed to pee

if you’ve readthis note thenyou know therest so getto it—whatthe hell areyou waiting for?

I have takenthe road lesstraveled & I’vegot to tell youit’s the exactsame damn roadas the busy oneexcept with fewerassholes behind thewheel & more billboards& rest stops so makesure to bring plentyof cash for snacks

hey, thelast letterof thelast wordof thelast sentenceof thelast paragraphof thelast pageof thelast bookof thelast librarywould liketo saygoodbyebut alasthe endis nigh

like the flyat thewindowdoes notunderstandfree passageis a gift &not a givenwe beat ourwings againstthe other’swords awaitingatmosphericchange

the black dog settles on my chest;my heart thrums a gallows beatthrough open windowed dark—stars look away with each breathtrees exhale in moon-rushed exultation(if there is sleep, let sleep come;if there is dream, let dream overwash;if there is silence, let silence breakagainst the wall […]