I

hey cat, blue black
the shows all the same
where you runnin’ at
keep walking, and never mind
those eyes that stare
like daggers
always creeping from behind

last night’s meal lingers
in your mouth and mind
scraps from a disquiet alley
the spies and sell swords are on the move
and the sun is cold
the trains still march
now, to a different tune
old, ordered, and overthrown

the path is well worn
earned and well deserved
theres fire and cancer in the air
and the crystal rose
that blooms in summer
shatters in winter

un-showered, unshaven and
unknown, I leapt
from one thought
to the next
in a halfhearted attempt
to keep these hills
behind me and this
anger
at bay

a tender tongue
sizzled on  burnt butter
frustration, step back
let that mind drift
in quixotic chaos, waiting
curl up then break out
three days and then some
back, back, back

II

the night was glowing, holy
fueled by obscenity
we wandered up and down the river
with piss stains and crude fire pits
to mark our territory
time holds little value
to the uninitiated

with pocket knives
zippo lighters
and chess boards
we conquered the world
flowing in streams of LSD
never seeing the future
of ragged boys growing
into haggard men
it was sex and love that did it
how they hooted and howled
in hollow moments thought to hold glory

where is my warm-blooded warlock
warding off these dreams
of wayward widow-makers
unlocked and uncocked
the pistols are kept loaded
this is what happens when you can’t write