Accordion Dream, and: Alternative Monkey, and: The Heat, and: The Last Bird, and: Flower Shop

Accordion Dream

old brooklyn parablesprospect park pond gleamhot tar sticky puerto ricanchildren's city feet blackmothers lean out crackeddream peeled windows.

bop kitchen floor jazzradio show knees pailscrub down listeningclosely alto jackie mclean.

german deli mayonnaiseliverwurst history hardroll october pickle bedfordstuyvesant trees maxroach insist destiny pizzaanchovy slice Village Voice.

stickball fables years knowf train paperback choicesgreen buick fender basesgeorge jackson soledad or

steinbeck's discontent snowwhistling tenement radiatorcanarsie steam squawk seagullsdon't like they used todream dolphily above thepier tabla and accordion.

Alternative Monkey

fulfilling anew romanalternative to singing butnot the silence in monkey eyesoriginal speaking agelessbritish empire triangle swingingalternative to colonial but withall my jungle music heart leaping             in a little moonlight they play.

rainforest thick stoopingoptions of primal rootingcoconut meat love chewingalternative to confusing butnot the skin of the truth flamingoacross the mystery of sweepinglevee delta mississippi land             in a little moonlight sneaking.

hat cup monkey dancing organworkin' street funky corner grindingalternative to african caribbean sun butfor all the copper yellow too little timin'alternative to tobacco ripe for pickin'corporate sugarcane stock deeper rising             sharp diamond carat moon climbing.

arteries drilling alternative to ingenuityno one other than for tearless gunningdown middle passage nature of meaningbut for cortez teddy truman bush extortingrhyming plunder with obama if king dreamingfdr alternative to jesus more than profit soldstill mothers of rubber tree generations rape             in a little moonlight they surge             in a little moonlight they explode             in a little moonlight they burn             off shovel spade moon shining gold-shining they play.

The Heat

heat has its own inconsistenciesdespite purist reputation, ownrag-mop toils steaming ironblues veins to count beforethe big sky's water breaks;

gets all volcanic eyed, knows better thanstill hopes, laughs down to the riverlaundry on the head highestreaches blue furthest point fromup on sweltering rocks evokes

before night rain raise the dead inthe middle black triplets heat cotton-rowconscience juju music spanishtinge muted horn troubled headbalms mud red barefoot road issues

of tobacco heart old country visionschewed down traditions tongue earringfuture sun-hurt hidden scars upby the rocks scorching intuitionchain gang arms swing men for crybefore the big sky goes into labor;

tames the pounding heart trumpetsolo raging heat silent screamingshame burning sugarcane notionMiles let go of deadly                                       ("How Deep Is The Ocean").

The Last Bird

morning up in the middlerelative to all high abovewitness barely in the skya black dot soar until it hurtthe eyes.

away until the end of the mirrorliquid memory more taken thangoodness of gravity for granted,watched bittersweet vanishinggoodness in theory in perspectivecourageous up the middle ofblue dash without reflection

like an unmarked confederate gravethe ground still steaming blocking thesun after sherman's burning sky             into the narrowing of morning blazed             into the middle of the red hurt my eyesall the way to the end of the mirror thelast bird in the sky.

all relative to outlook no nightpromises no star can keep likeharlem after Malcolm disappearedinto a little black dot straight upinto the middle of the morning airafter learning nothing from warthe last cry heard but barelyany such thing as relativitymemory of so way up high

detroit after King saw the dove fly.

Flower Shop

windows if the plants are okbroken glass tank engineswho opens the flower shopbombed out last night

the price no matter intentionswhen our TV screens silentof selling wartime storiesand the kids are ok

new york post early morningfather to son sins defiantread between passed on beliefslast night bombed out

liberating schools mosquesour way of...