come now, a little closer
so that I may judge you limb by limb
spiders cocoon beneath the layers of the epidermis
ruddy roaches crawl out of the moth-worn crevices
bits of newspaper to block the sunlight
torn pieces of screen protect my eardrums from the burrowing (insects)
see the carpet in distress (indefinitely)
rusty water pipes, the brown water
the chemicals coagulate

i leave a candle lit at eventide
a layer of thin plastic buries the corners
a crooked flame warms the black hands
the lost art of phrenology; as a plastic soul erupts and drips as wax
soul burns like a stubborn paperclip-plastic errodes and bites the silence
tiny crystalline structures on the surface
atrophy of the thought processes


teeth come jarring down on the pavement
a phantom fist pierces the flesh
the brain separates the physical from the mental
emotional bruises return in the same hollow spaces
familiarize yourself with the bold truth
self-will binds to the adversary of pain
exaggerated waves of destiny crash and form cresting white waves
opposing pressures align at the base of the spine
the practice of regarding the smooth places

(Down in the dirt
   Down in the Earth
    Drown in the Earth
      Another six feet South)