carnivorous portraiture
symbol of power
like waves crashing over the breakwater
or the moment in which dinner-table and silverware are upended
a very nice rug to cover a very deep hole

inside that hole;
look inside the darkest recesses
inside the vault of stolid self-irreverence
underground railroad adorned with tableaus for selves no longer embodied
hang yourself
be your own ideal hang man
be your own ideal hang man's own ideal hang man
be your own ideal hang man's own ideal hang man's own ideal hang man

parasuicidal ego-death impotentiate
look into that hole
do not step on the rug

black-hole sun
cosmic sinkhole
the weight of a planet
choking ocean-

great eye of cheese in the sky
with asphyxiating hunger for novelty
carrion eye strip the meat from the meat
dress down every filet to the last
dressed to the nines in dead meat
dead meat
dead meat everything

the rainbow over the styx
the drowned souls aglow in the light
the iridescent broadcast
the love and peace proclaimant muting and disintegrated
the globular cacophony our delicatessen echoic plaints
the glutton is
the glutton belied is
is the glutton with eyes like saucer plates is
is is gobbling sausage links

cities of statues
patchworked fleshy kin
people-holes
the gullet ceases to churn
its cavernous ouroboros maw
swallowing eternally
vacuum destiny

alabaster power-washed vinyl siding
semi-well-kempt lawn, ankle length grass
a garden living and dying and flowering
permanently unpaved driveway
parked car, parked truck, parked camper van
red, white and faded gunmetal grey
plausible display of upkeep
familial appeal, hometown base of operations
welcoming

charismatic entity
surface-bubbling neuroses
predatory instincts
raging waves of testosterone

mating season appeal
appealing seasonal wear
a modest yet expansive vocabulary
sweaters
courtship through concision of energies
two quiet folks talking about books careful not to reveal too much
text-related anxiety
tapestry of borrowed motifs

the precipice reached
ingot underfoot
pick-ing the riches
return to surface
the deepest breath