For John Guare
I used to live
in a mother now I live
in a sunflower
Blinded by the silverware
Blinded by the refrigerator
I sit on a sidewalk
in the sunflower and its yellow
downpour
The light of the world
beads up on one perfect
green leaf
It scribbles its name on every living thing then erases it so what's left is more of a whisper than a mother
Here it's spring
Over and over and over again
•
I used to live
in a cloud now I live
in a crow
It's tiny and crippled in there but I can find my way to the bathroom in the dark if I need to
All the windows
in the crow are left open
and let the clouds in
Back in
They float past my bed and have nothing to say
Hello it's nice to meet you!
From a telephone pole
tongues slide out singing
welcome home
Welcome home they sing
•
I used to live
in a tree now I live
in a king
He waves his arms in front of him and endless migrations of birds disappear into his coat
I like to sit up inside
his crown eating sandwiches
and watching tv
Hills shake in the distance when he shuffles his feet
Floods when he snaps his fingers
I bow inside his brow and the afternoon stretches out
Orders more sandwiches
And sells the slaves
and sets the slaves free
and sells the slaves