commissioners sprawl about the table
misters bonefish, toadley, macflie, spongeson, and mahlisck
overwhelming putrid farting with donated cigar smoke
dulling single minds with gifted liquor
playing pocketpool with rolls of dough
sharing needles of noxious high
too many kings in the strange deck
they gamble away
children asleep by a coalbin outside
dream of greenfields and bent fishingpoles
after the parade with torches and horses
fireflies everywhere
a tug of war on the steep hill
shouting pulling as father inched up
the tower light shining down behind him
“hands off!”
we heaped into the dirt just like that
instructed
arrayed performance
vessels in waves crystalling flaking cratering branching networking ranging faulting striking
contracted minutes
lub dub murmur crackle whistle rub gasp grate gallop
ball flying in soaring out snapping to connecting with arcing across
with turf wood leather steel cotton wool plastic
mud grass lime tar resin sweat lager ale sugar meat
pant snort tap crunch squelch pop crack thud whack shout roar thunder
sun mist bright grey spotlight backdrop green brown black orange blue mottled pixels in time
into pitches snaps strikes yards seconds outs downs bases hashes innings possessions runs points games series seasons
pieces process symmetry chaos
its never time
without shadow
free winds
seeds
sun
surviving
adapting
sheltering
alone
words take flight
raining on footsteps
and falling leaves
turn on the faucet
rains here run to stormy sea
clouds walk by
streets whisper doomsday
towncity left alone
they dont come
blues about
hush now
dont quit me
long way to go
repair
resource
rear
returnturnturnturn
rehold
refree
leeward
to peas beans melons cantaloupes asparagus crabs oysters
orchards picnics
sick sailors immigrants dying contagious with mary
suburban mirage manguano cannery company town
baseball beer dancing burlesque
manufactury refinery petrolasphaltchemicalpool rails
gastank smokestack waste
liberty victory jumboizing containerizing
community clutching sandymuddyoiled rubbishroad
to fairfieldbrownfield
and beyond
to pleasant prospect adventure utopia
sweating river
adele dreamed of an ancient city
white broken marble maroon crumbled brick
jumbled concrete bright yellow under a morning sun
she soared and circled slowly down
toward a windless world
eddies of dust spiraled undisturbed as voices
mostly gold streaked white purple red
heralds
journals
correspondents
news
she walked with an august gentleman
scattering seeds of autumn flowers blooming as they passed
“lord baltimore is american”
“my maryland”
turning around they stood in a sea
maroon touched with delicate gold
carotid arteries reaching
into mind
onto face
move with moon
feed sun oxygen iron metalion
wash waste
oceanland
waterrock
planktonfungi
towncounty
harborfarm
portindustry
urbanrural
tidal rivers into cityorganic
through talltufted reeds
winds piping away
shuck shagged flies
found foul balls
brought good luck sleeping the first inning
minded the park
ate scraps
felt like a friend and seemed to know.
two light brown ears bent like bats wings
white face and chest
brown and white sox.
park home
time game
play team.
shucks panted smiling
never left
go see him there
