Improvisations

After: ‘Nonet 1, 2 & 3’ No Stars Please Music by The Trummerflora Collective

There are days when running is all you know when running is all you will do & into the night running & gulping for air upstairs & down . . .

There are days when the bells are insistent & never stop & there he is humming to himself & all the kids laugh & he stumbles & cries openly &

there’s the dancer with one good leg & her mother who pushes the cart & Andy the clown in his big blue bubble blowing balloons &

there’s the time I met her in the attic & she played the trumpet & made me lie down on a board of nails & walked on my chest &

I remember the heat of that July night when fireflies were everywhere & Rachel held me close & we told stories about wolves & severed hands

& there’s the auto wreck & the sinking ship & a rattler in the basement & a dead dog in the closet & white rats & a can of kerosene & a match & . . .

take a closer look – this iron key – this bag of clothes – our last hour / take this open palm – my cock in your mouth . . .

After: ‘Third Time’ No Stars Please Music by The Trummerflora Collective & the Sculpture of Tanya Story

Morning doves & the hard striking nails of a Wolverine.
A whistle & the last drops of an early rain.

She’s built a black virgin from foam & plastic & bone & she’s opened its face

Follow the river. Hold close to the fence.
When did we last eat? Monday? Yes. Monday, I think it was Monday.

They’ve cleared the room & left the sheets of hot metal to rust.
They’ve welded a face to the wall & took turns with a razor.

she’s planted a dog’s skull at one breast & a seed pod in its slick vagina

I can see the body curled in the corner.
It’s through the screen I’m looking.

she’s skinned the head of an ox & raised it on wire & wings

As the day grows dark, a crowd begins to gather at the edge of the field.
One has a drum & another the leg of a goat.

Have you seen Hazel with her silver gown her silver turban her silver teeth?
Will you sit at my left & read to me from the golden book?

& she’s split the naked torso of her twin & trimmed its fissures with ink & poison quills

The rain has begun again. Helicopters circling in pairs, a mastiff & a red Ferrari.

First, they were arranged in a line & then one at a time they were led away & after a while no one was left.

After: Ololiuhqui From: Ode to Earthly Delights – Music by: Quercus

I run the river bank through lilies & lavender & rest against the weeping willow &

remember you speaking of a time in your childhood when there were geese & ducks & pigeons &

you fed them by hand & the sun cast your shadow long in those days & when the old man died you left &

came here & fashioned a boat & we met on a Sunday & I swam out to test your resolve &

you threw me a buoy & reeled me in. It was different then but not today –

when I see your body snared in the willow’s roots / I know there will be no end . . .