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

half-offdrugstorecandy heartsmeans foolswill payanythingfor love