cork board /
crawl across chewed notices /
wanted, needed, looking, searching /
curling in the vacuum behind the sealed glass /
finger and nose prints on the surface /
their oil catching light to flare up /
like exclamatory bursts /
letters below the smooth finish /
pinned and locked /
untroubled by what passed years on
oh, place of my dreaming /
filtering water through the bed next door /
cooling squared off ft of air /
with frost excavated in the neighbour’s kitchen /
applying young fat to shine brass for the Sunday photo /
plugging drafts with local bonds /
to stop up a measure of vernacular /
placing a mark on each crib with a notary’s stamp /
in a language that made the lists ordering the world /
for delivery
what to lay on the welcome mat at 3 am? /
scars, white space, the planned overthrow? /
or a diminished speed bump /
rubbed by the weight of earth’s daily turn /
if only to give space for what can come /
an implied absence clearing loosestrife and undergrowth /
leaving some thistle and nettle to move the flesh /
that smell of freshly decaying soil is written only /
and opens the field for unnamed creatures
I dreamt of a saint loitering in the back alley /
their organs on the outside of the body /
tanned and cracked by the increasing sun the saint had no control over /
scraping the soil for historic cigarette butts /
to smoke Robespierre’s smoke and carry the fevered torch /
a wandering burning point at night /
pacing from dumpster to power line /
letting their lungs feel the descending frost /
they knew the body is a pre-fab building /
never meeting code
as always pull the wall from the frame /
heighten and obscure the holes that are joints /
arching light between rotating flesh /
say it’s credible though opinion spreads away from the centre /
the gift is speaking our own language regardless of the spelling /
bent bone treated by torch light on the lawn /
sleep in on tuesday when the human lull /
is most obvious to idlers massaging the word
leave your cells for another day /
tally them falling asleep as rain knocks on the ceiling /
here, here, here, here ones insist /
recognized by the distance between 2 and 1 /
this body is a handful /
broken, treated by acts of subtraction /
slowing down for that last 1 /
counted after we are gone
tree, tree, tree, tree, tree /
spelling b for short hauls /
monkey wrench ankle bracelet /
sum of menu in a glass /
controlled synapse fire /
smokers for hire /
will meat or exceed expectations /
lies down on the job pile up /
drink away your problem children /
sunshine tequila shakes long shadows /
evening wears you down well
I forgot the flesh /
decades old blossom /
bowing in the front window /
still rippling from that heated pebble /
dropped fifty years ago /
can I be eaten even now? /
transformed and plated /
even an afterlife /
as ripe fruit compost /
or rather as a waiting stale burp /
under the lip /
of skin over bone
sleep for everyone /
a millennia of rest and absence /
from the waking history that is /
a communal closed-eye effort /
slumber through fires murmuring /
in the streets every day /
spreading their singe in weeded neighbourhoods /
lay a head perpendicular to the rising effort /
to make rest a gated attraction only
there is a tired message on the recording /
clicking the seconds off /
tooth on tooth /
unwinding the day’s length /
shut down eyes /
so they are only bulges below skin /
sleep soundly /
not waking up to any language