death came to visit
today

and now he sits,
smoking a cigarette,
in a chair
on the other side
of the room

he did not say
why,
simply barging into
the room
saying

hey
hey man
how ya doing
care for a
smoke?

he didn’t say much
after that so I went
on with things

read a magazine,
paid some bills,
made a sandwich and
ate it

still he sat,
just smoking and
smoking,
occasionally
asking me:

you sure you don’t
want one man?

I was sure
and after the fourth
or fifth time he
asked me if I wanted
to go somewhere


“a little noise will do us
good man”

“this place is quiet as
death”

I realized slowly he didn’t
mean for us to return if we
left

as I write this
he’s still over

smoking and smoking
and smoking

I weigh my options
as the sun sets once
again

you detect a tick like a trap we made
while the flood will deny our sugary curse

you spy a tick and a hook
drops onto blood codes
eyes spraying in panic

you charade a seance
conducting a catholic farce or
on ode to smiling slavery

you arrive at sunrise
hell now licking the ruins of
dawn frost in iron cuffs

Echo flies into a clock like
soft time forgotten

I just want plain old you. I don't need no trappings. Simple plain jane.
I just want the you that wakes up in the morning
Having drooled on your pillow.
The you with morning, and coffee, and ciggarette breath
The you who puts her hair up when she doesn't feel like dealing with it
The you who sits next to me in sweats and one of my torn up t-shirts
Eating Ice Cream
and falling asleep on my shoulder
The you who doesn't always say goodnight or I love you
The you who gets mad and cusses and yells
I mean...who doesn't

I've just come to realize
That the plain old you
Is my favorite you
Nothing plain about you
You don't have to try to knock my socks off, good lookin'
Whether your walking to me or away...I like to watch your hips sway
Going to and fro
Ain't it a sight!
Lookin' in your eyes
Well, there's nothin plain about those eyes

Here I am back again
Making sense out of letters
That somehow get delivered
Your laugh is a memory
I replay like a record
The way your eyes are blue
Like the sea
Like the sea
Like the sky
Like the sky

The worst is behind you
Deleted off the answering machine
Hey its just me again
Just calling to see if your still breathing
Are you still putting food in your mouth
Waking up in the morning
You wash dishes
Are you still alive
After the tone
Do you still wake up to the shotgun blast alarm clock
Do you still sleep with the lights off
Do you like it cold
Do you look in the mirror?
Say my name

Do you still walk the streets we walked?