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Cloud on the mountains. Rain
in the valleys. Mist between
the trees.

An old man leads a horse
between dry stone walls.
He is followed by a small
white dog & a capering
spirit. He raises his cap
as we pass & the rain falls
even harder.

Looks like weather, says
the spirit. Aye, says the
dog. And there'll be no
sun till Monday earliest.
Tuesday if we're unlucky,
says the horse. And Sunday
if we're not, says the
old fella, replacing the
cap on his head.
The boy makes a clumsy play
The young lady beats him with her wooden leg
Birds fly from his broken heart
I ***** his beats
& beat his bones
Blueward he turned
before he went
Blueward backwards
bendy into the morning
where grass & ****
run brown to sun
He dreams the rain
on the windows.  There
are girls in the walls,
bones of a small animal
beneath the bed.  In
these dreams he's always
dead or half dead,  propped
against the door like an old
saw.  He believes he may
be waiting for something or
someone , a ghost or a bone
man, or a woman with a cat's
smile carrying a crystal
decanter or crystal meths.
His hands are very soft,
the bones may have gone.
His feet though are hard
& tough,  like rock or metal
or the back of the door he
leans against.  Sometimes it
seems to him he may no longer
be quite human,  no longer quite
of this world,  or the world
next door for that matter.
Sometimes he's not even sure
he's here at all
Stuffed bird turns
& turns again
while the snapple man
snaps & cracks a cackle
& the slow doll dances
a waltz with the
taxidermist's daughter.
The girl has her moons
her bones her copper coins
her deadly silver nightshade

She has her planets her stars
her fox fur & golden daggers
her small god in a corner of the room

She has her bestiaries
her angels & devils & demons
her gaudy little perfumed monsters

She has her rituals pat
her hand signs & subtle gestures
her dance for the ancient ceremonies

She is ready now
she can begin
Poems must sometimes be broken
to make new rules
and rules must sometimes be broken
to make new poems
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