BIRDMAN OF EASYVILLE
Existence Deconstructed
Able was I ere I saw Elvis.
He was leading a yoga class:
A room full of competitive posers
Engaged in thoughtful reflection
And abstract introspection.
Feeling no need to intercede
I sought entertainment elsewhere.
On the grounds of a gypsy encampment
I gambled my fortune away.
As a native-born Phoenician,
I was unaccustomed to sweet confections,
Yet I fell for a saber tooth dame.
A woman of aboriginal design.
She was a daydream intellectual,
Full of sacred hearts and holy trinities,
Well-versed in the language of words,
With all her explicits on full display.
I was playing with house money
And pockets full of hope shine.
I ended the midwatch a lucky sailor,
Cashed in my chips with a fish monger,
And decided to take in a show.
On the diamond stage in Audienceville,
I watched Orpheus in his underwear
As he parried insults unforgotten.
His expression spoke less than a smile.
It was more a menacing grimace,
Teeth like tempered glass
With a baked-enamel finish.
He humored all the dirty foot commoners,
Muttered a few heartfelt obscenities
And retired to the tomb of the unknown cynic.
Not one to waste a good exit,
I left my lover in the tall grass
With the chiggers and the ticks,
Our feelings for each other having vanished
Like chalk art in a summer rain.
I hopped a Norfolk Southern freight
And rode it through Black Rock tunnel.
Keeping my head low the entire passage.
My glimpse of the future seemed fertile
As a salt marsh in a tidal plain.
It was time to reconsider my options.
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