-


i never actually thought i would
live long enough to experience the
surfacing of all my wisdom teeth–

when my fourth one began to throb
and push aside the tooth next to it,
i felt the pain like a spark plug
in my jawbone

but i drank no alcohol
for it that time

i wanted to bath in its presence
as it chewed its way out
because it was my
              very last
                         one–

a knowledge earned from
this Last Rite of Passage

a rebirth of myself through
the gum line of aging tissue—

this crowning new thing you
will never have enough
of anymore...


s jones
2021


.

-

There were five of us working late
when i saw this creature crawling
rapidly across the concrete floor-

one of the employees counted the
legs on its right side, he said there
were seven-teen of them–

more than enough
to carry all of us

We left it be to continue its destiny
in this place where we must make
our living as everything else dies
outside in a midnight autumn frost

A curious distraction,
this singularity —

moving about thirty-four
steps per second in the
midst of a ten hour shift...


s jones
2021


.

-
video—
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPiIEcwoDHM


One is supposed to sleep with the intention of repairing the mind and the body of all those ills encountered in daily life, but This night was not one for rest. I think the clock was reading 9:53 last I had glanced, but it could have been 3:59 or sumthin.

Anyway, my eyes opened to the stature of a very tall and muscular fellow holding a pitchfork to my side. He said "Miss Seranaea Jones, you have been selected to participate in a wonderous event. Your going to tour the finest Pits of Hell and all of the recent improvements. Satan has"personally" endorsed this invitation to you, so we must be on our way !"

I think at that moment I said, "its not done yet, let it cook a while longer".

I was not really capturing current events, so he jabbed that pitchfork deeper and pushed me right off the bed. Frickin hurt too, so realizing
that this was gonna be a non-negotiable parlay, I agreed to his terms.

(or "It", I dunno... this dood was holding a pitchfork on me and I couldn't find my gun)

We went outside to his vehicle. It was Hottest **** thing I ever saw !
We got inside and I was surrounded by blinking indicators, computer graphics and some serious leather seats and solid wood paneling. He said "Please fasten your seatbelt, it is not currently permissible to have you killed". I said "Thanks" with a fearful stare of a chicken being held by its throat.

He started the engine and Ohh !!!— such an immaculate sound emanated from it. With one pull of the gearshift we plunged STRAIGHT DOWN. Before I passed out I saw what looked like platoons of dragons in formation poised to venture upwards into to midst of the Earth. My last element of memory was of cheeks rippling with the force of acceleration.


Having survived the trip down to the Negative Pearly Gates, the next thing I knew I was in a fish and ski motor boat cruising the River Styx. Had all those extras too, depth finders and flat monitors that surrounded the driver position— the screens were filled with the ******...


ummm—
wished i had not looked into the rear view mirror,
looking back was a version of myself as some
mummified shriveled past-tense
Seranaea  "thing"—
                                      — ughhh

He pointed to the sign at the entrance. It looked new enough, but was marred by bullet holes and deep scrapes.

It said—

                       "Ye who enter, Abandon All Hope.
                              ATMs are available inside.
                                        No Smoking"  

He said "My apologies for the condition of this entrance, we just recently had some particularly unruly admissions". I nervously nodded, thinking on how unruly I was upstairs to have become a Hellbound tourist.

The next thing I noticed were the creatures in the water, their mouths gaping wide, wrapped by bedsheet-white skin tightened around skulls and pairs of hollowed eyes. They were screaming knives into my soul.
My captor said "reach into this bag and throw one of these out to them"  
It was a bag of charcoal briquettes, so I took one and threw it. One of those creatures snapped it up and then slipped back underwater.

Cool !!

I did this a number of times, skipping the briquettes and watching them get snatched as like so many minnows gulping down bread crumbs. I was really getting the hang of it by the time I suddenly Slipped And Fell !! –splashing into the water as these things start immediately towards me, reaching for new flesh with long sharp Nails When I—

4 AM

Woke Up !
Wet—

wrapped tight
in a bed sheet—

peppered with
blacken 
fingerprints...



think id better be a good girl
from now on !!!



s jones
2007


.

-


it is like the pulling of fish from
water that is now too shallow
for minnows to swim in

or a child's deceased hamster
inside of a shoe box leaning
against a dumpster

while a breeze pushes autumn leaves
in the opposite direction of
a one-way street

it is what remains after the
door to everything has been
padlocked from everybody–

these are the bubbles that
pop randomly in my
dishwater,

all of this soaking quietly into
an old wet sponge situated
just between my ears—

did you hear any
of this ?


s jones
2021



.

-


He is home now,
her metallic
soldier–

and has brought with
him a few souvenirs
from "in country" ;

things like sand,
sun-bleached
boots

and a script he
submits to her
daily

she will be returning soon
with groceries wearing a
simple paper mask–

driving between stoplights
at each intersection, she
counts the remaining with
tightening fists

as red concentric circles
fade to black inside
his desert.

"On set for the
performance–
             
                        Places Please !"

an enemy now arrives
at the flank of the
forth curtain—

She is home now...




s jones
2021


.

-


Hello there !

i ~was~ that small gap on the
driver side wiper blade that you
paid little attention to until now–

glad to make your
acquaintance !

you know, its kinda funny
if you think on it, you and me
just staring through one another.
the eyes often fail in capturing
the obvious, i guess in passing

but as things tend to develop in nature,
they have creepy ways of obfuscating
the wits out of you as your
inane goes insane–

                                    Ya
                                            See ?
                            molehills
             do eventually
                                become Mountains
        when they are allowed to grow and
              cover your windshield with those thin
 brown and grey arc streaked Venetian Blinders

That now capture your fully divided
Attention as you drive in all that
Muddy wet sleet with only a small
Gap left to look through—

Hey,
were getting to know
each other pretty
good now...



s jones
2021



.