runaway
a poem
trees in the headlights like
living stalks like lighted
sentries between the dark
the 3 AM emancipation …
left behind the secret
smoke of lies and sugar
drenched and salted all
the bits and burnt tips
the curled photographs
taped to the wall and
terror of finality
the coping pills and
sleeping mechanisms
left along with yester-views
of temporary daffodils
risen and fallen and
marking the sly Spring
like a rosary for the lost
a slanted wall reveals
the saturated clay
the days above and
layers underneath your
flights and flows your
lusts and woes and
wreaths of unintention
the toilet rolls and
coffee pots and scissors …
the dry slanted floor as
cold as stone and
mossy beams decayed
mark the long night
like a rosary for the absent
a sinkhole for your thoughts
a penny for your heart
the tetris sky below the moon
the Walmart parking lots
the combs and sheets
and lunch meat days …
your dire intent boarding
the bus to Little Rock …
a cut to the unknown
the destitute shadow
clung to your hairless legs
like a grieving daughter …
the snoring in adjacent seats
the soaps and body smells
every vision and version in retreat
and 30-West like a raging ape
plunges fast in the
sign-lighted night past
the off-ramps to hoaxes
false memory and true lies
packed in your lap and
marking the sly seasons
like a rosary for ghosts
the cut
your cavern chest
the falling




Scary. Propulsive. Read aloud.