ghosts of slumber parties past.
just a haunted betamax & a stack of oreo sandwiches.
sisters braiding eachother’s hair far past the witching hour,
contemplating life without supervision.

blue house. yellow lawn.
silverback gorilla in one garage.
two garage: empty.
three garage: a woman entombed in exhaust.

          [her bloated tongue]

a gang of bmx boys pizza-fed and friday-high,
hopped up on mountain dew and trading card collectible rituals ‘n rhythmics.
they conjure a demon just to **** and dismember it.
     for funsies.
     for keepsies.

a fang for the shrine at the foot of the old oak tree.
history on the skin, long history, long thoughts, long in the nod like a calm dead frog.
bubbled, boiled, toiled, and troubled.

the woods aren’t haunted.
you   are haunted.
you   are the conduit through which the darkness displays its vivid colors.

          [treefort aflame]

the seasons furrow/
                               / the leaves fall.
little plots of land etched out – subdivision and sprawl.
on the avenue, heaven
& hell made tame and tangible.
built, re-built, and refurbished – a lawn and a lantern.
a mortgaged glory of sparkle and decay.

          [dead cat is a new cat is the old cat ran away]

pictograms of morning light display on mom’s face
as she instructs us on the gusts of love       [scrambed eggs]
& teaches us the truth of nettles sprung
from violent pine.
                                      [toast with raspberry jam]
the television.
the microwave.
the blender beverages.
hymnals of an electric kingdom.
one mom dances, the other expires.

          [restless armless girls in orange sunsets]

girl with a gun at the edge of her lawn and selling lemonade.
girl in an old wicker chair.
save her horror story for another day.

boy with a bent frame bicycle limps his way home
from one end of the avenue to the other.
his pockets full of sparkly rocks found in the lime quarry pit.
one boy in a long line of lost planets.
the driveway.
the refrigerator.
the hum of a saturday night commercial-free cassette.
where’s dad?

                         the glow of an eerie crystal
                                                                     (continued…)

From
the veil of
trees, I can
peer into
your window,
and count
the family,
imagine them
gone to bed,
dreaming of blue,
"underwater, unaware."

Those summer
evaporations tickle
my skin,
bring on such
an observational
itch:
how you,
freshly out
of the pool,
bloomed
brightly on
Betamax.

i was a little bit hazy on the details, but you can't find me anywhere.
i am the stranger.
we have Not been to hell and back and spent all our money.
we haven't the faintest idea " who you are "
but my identity is fluid
like a ******* on Betamax -
for no reason.

Like a pack of dogs lounging
  in minutes, minutes, minutes, eyeing an endless treacle.
it’s worth the shot.
     what is?

I heard he went into a crash,
    and that Rey went into the deep blue dreaming of
    fins and fish – that *******. Brenn was up in the hills.
it’s a wonderful day to fill this space with the electric frill
               of laughter. Open that Emperador held loose in that
   cheap, slender bottle. That’s worth the stipend, in exchange for
    light – clarity, be it crass, and unsoundly. These ungodly hours
    will form a God, trying to go home, slurring, shaking in his gait,
      hailing a trisikad or a tricycle back to Philomena’s arms.
  it was a magnificent day – you know it is. The squalid canals
     are filled with the ******* under the care of a tyrant.
        Jon looks like he’s cut up for matrimony. We jeer and give out
  no jell so as to ridicule him into chaining himself to a passing.
       Empyrean is the mood now: all primed for the blackened chapel’s chase
  down the pews towards recognizing the smallest children inside ourselves.
     This moment is far from over. Like a skipping Betamax. A gramophone
        clamped in the kinked note lost somewhere in the sound byte,
  try this matrix for the forgotten. Tomorrow we will curse ourselves
      for the proud challenge, rivaling ourselves in the process.

    Like dogs in heat. Like dogs aching to ****. Like dogs
      garroted by the selfish hands of the neighbor. Like old bones
                 sleeping in troves we have forgotten.

Muddy Earthen Derby Day, whateverhapt... time and chance
and sixty-five to one...

just now we agree means just
now, the moment, mortal or otherwise,
right before now, which is alright

ere vcr betamax was gobbled up by berhishitbvshiftingds
shoveitshiboleth. I'd'me, thenVHS
before, just now, back then

no records, no rerung bells, mere

storytellers familiar spirits of the okeh kind

drunken wanderers bumping into waves of
meaning framing ality in ifity as if

we, you and I, me and thee, we just

the two of us and
words alone between us. What
powers this

I remember when we used to received free samples of new food and other free products to sample in the mail.

I remember three TV channels and only one black and white in the living room, with no remote. We didn't have an antenna. We'd have to call the TV repairman to come to the home put a new tube in the TV when it went out.

I remember TV Guide, when everyone looked forward to the new one every week.

I remember party lines on the telephone

I remember when we had to run to the bakery, the deli, the butcher, the greeting card, hardware store and the  grocery when we were getting ready for a birthday party. It took all day to prepare.

I remember Christmas parties in school and we had an aluminum tree with a color wheel.

The Lennon Sisters, I listened to all their Christmas Music and watched them on the Lawrence Welk Show.

Lawrence Welk

Guy Lombardo's New Years count down.

I remember when the girls had to wear dresses and the boys had to wear a dress shirt  and pants  to school.

I remember when the boys and girls were not allowed to play together on the playground.

The schools used to supply green and white striped one piece zip up gym uniforms.

We always used to wear gloves, we always went out looking our very best.

On our report card we used to be graded  in citizenship, (being nice to your fellow man)

I used to know the number to call our own phone to test it to see if it would ring. You'd call the number, hang up and it would ring you'd pick it up and you knew your phone worked.

Used to be able to use five numbers to call on the phone with in your own city.

I remember when you could hang up the phone on someone and the phone would not disconnect if they didn't also hang up.

I remember when we didn't have to use zip codes

I remember Ice Cream socials and chili Suppers.

I remember Mamie Eisenhower's signature color pink washer and dryers that we had in our home. I also remember the pink tile
that was all over our bathroom walls.

I remember having milk delivered in glass bottles to an insulated square metal box with a lid on our front steps.

I remember listening to CBS Mystery Radio theater on Sunday nights.

I remember School lunches being read on the radio before school every day.

I remember Casey Kasem Sunday music countdowns.

and .10 ice cream cones from the Dairy Queen.

My mother used to make all my clothes.

I remember  8 Track Tape players, Transistor radios and Reel to Reels, Super 8 movie cameras, and movie projectors, and my first polaroid camera.

Dropping off a roll of film, or a movie reel and wait for several weeks before we got it back in the mail.

I remember S&H Green Stamps and going to buy furniture or TV's at the store.

I remember when all the stores were closed on Sundays and every holiday.
I remember when TV went off and midnight and came back on at 6 am.
I remember when drivers ed was in school.

Christmas Clubs that the bank offered so you could save your money throughout the year for Christmas.

There were no malls, you'd have to walk up and down the sidewalks to buy what you wanted.

Cigarette Machines in the hotel lobby

25 cent telephone calls from a telephone booth

.45 pack of cigarettes

Danner's 5 and Dime, real fresh and hot thinly sliced roast beef sandwiches served with a bowl of chili.

Tin star Restaurant that served the best roast beef sandwiches, before Arby's

Used to watch Popeye The Sailor man, Mr. Magoo, Felix the Cat, Road Runner.

Jack LaLane's exercise program
Julia Child's cooking program

I remember when there were automatic horse rides outside of the grocery store. You'd put a quarter in and your child could sit on it and ride for a minute.

Betamax and VHS machines
Reel to Reels
Howard Cosell
Jackie Gleason (and away we go) To the moon alice! bang zoom
wing dings

Bob Hope, Milton Burle (Uncle Milte) Jack Lemon, Danny Thomas, Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett

The Rat Pack