songs of a window shade

by normal
“screw nice & its pretty flowers.”
—vladimir mayakovski, a cloud in trousers

the shade goes down
night falls
life begins on the side of melancholy
the shade goes up
i am putting flowers in a vase
i am cleaning up this foul world with my thoughts
i am thinking of the insect world
stink bugs, dung beetles, thrips, brush crickets, boxelders, skullmaggots
the shade goes down
cranial engine room—2 brain cells & a big mouth
dream of stopping wars & taming kittens
the shade goes up
i am brewing tea in a coffee cup
sun comes out
light scrubs the earth
a dead man rises, a child falls, a malignancy thrives
both saint & tyrant wiggle equally in the womb
blossoms dump their shadows on the floor
shade down
carpet slippers pace an ancient pattern that remains unrepeated twice
the shade goes up
i am oiling my old feet with new age salve
a single cloud tips a cup of water
a rainbow raises its arch like a cat stretching its back
a great wind blows
a grandmother bakes her bread
the shade stays up
somebody wiggles in the womb
somebody invents a murderous missile
2 sweethearts make love in the afternoon fresco
somebody shoots a south china tiger
a baby cries
a blue jay tweedle dees
the shade goes down
the eye of an incredible force blinks
beyond death, the
the sky lives on

december 2022