the ride
death is a lime green cadillac
with two sleek fins
circa 1959
lots of chrome
humongous tinted windshield
glides above bumps in the road
finds its way
to any destination
the last...
on ice
it’s difficult to know exactly
how many of them are gone
but the percentage is high
not the one’s who’ve lost their way
the fallen down, mis-directed
temporarily out...
Confederate X
piss stains on the wizard sheet
pulled from last night’s bed
southern clown
klansman gown
fearful eyes beneath a cutout pillowcase
boo inside a bigot’s head
black Bible talk behind...
alternative conversation
next to my house
in a towering maple’s highest crook
I’ve wedged an empty soup can
open side angled up
with a string attached to its bottom end
tautly...
bees
once
words were bees
your pollen enticed
tore from my heart’s hive
torrid drones
your scent convulsed
coaxed from shadow
compelled to speak
sumptuous words
only those bees could.
***
By NEIL BROSNAN: bees
jornada del muerto
jornada del muerto (journey of the dead man)
“no one pays attention to these killings, but the secret of the world is
hidden in...
the laughing men
oh memory
childhood illusion
behind what synapse
the aroma of smoldering autumn fire
suburban side roads
softly gauzed in smoky light
children’s saturday voices
rising from yards
family raked
weekend chored to
the status...
mercy
Broken man, your fists, two blue sphinx
curled atop a frayed wool blanket
guarding what wastes beneath.
And still, that ruthless countenance
remembered from childhood…
your brute face
eyeing me...
the light whose darkness is light
sweltering August afternoon
Rene Lazare
bare foot, bare chested
in a leather smock
tied over ragged jeans
feverishly manipulates pigments
bent over an old barn’s floor
mixing tube squeezed oils
pressing and...
the myth of Paradise
ninety-nine names of God in a hat
choose what you need
throw the rest back
take the God without image
God without face
distort him to service
the cause you...
blue harp
late night hooch bar
boozed up jam…
edgy blues cat
in a grey fedora
wrap around shades
pointy shoes
sweat soaked
lime green sharkskin suit
leans into emptiness
harp mouth blowing
raw engine steam
locomotive...
s_a_v_t_o_ train
insatiable appetite
eats everything
kidneys
heartbeats
dreams
devours without end
flies under the radar
of patriotic flags
revolutionary anthems
licks mouths dry
where lipstick once gave beauty reign
leaves rictus grins
on exhausted faces
runs fat hands...
last rite
Sunday Christian radio
Jesus on every other station
the frequency of God
stero summoned
sermoned into farmland and suburbia
I avoid
content for now
with Lady Ga Ga
as I blow past
a...
liberation
the manual said
so simple now even a housewife can do it.
Fantastic, I thought.
Let her.
***
BY NEIL BROSNAN: liberation
