ALEX LEMON
ALL THIS FRAGRANCE ALL THIS ALL
Alarm clock
& voice.
My skeleton
Is being
Absorbed
By my blood.
**
Lobotomies,
Phrenology,
Electric shock—
Listen
While you
Measure the
Limits of
The bull-
Pitted head.
**
Reoccurring,
The dream
In which
A hanged man
Wakes
& blows
Me a kiss.
**
For
The golden
Clothespin,
Scuff of
The sidewalk,
Hold
My hand
Before
It falls off.
**
Beneath
Streetlights,
Rats dance
Through
Chewed-
Open cans.
**
The fun
Park inside
Is being
Renovated.
Bell weather,
Blackened eyes.
**
Along
The interstate
Construction
Signs flash:
Warning.
Zombies
Ahead.
Run For
Your Lives!
**
The hours
Grow
Bloated
While I
Climb
The ladder.
Each rung
I touch
Bursts
Into flames.
**
If truth will
Never be
Known,
I regret
To inform you:
Fuscia roses
Drying, upside-
Down on
The clothesline.
**
The cat
Fur—
I collect
It in old
Spaghetti
Jars. She will
Never die.
**
The art
Of contemplation
Escapes me.
I’d rather
Be a missile
Filled
With honey.
**
Don’t you
Worry
About
The sky
Pressing
Down with
Its never-
Wanting-to-be.
**
Night wind
Overturns
The lawn
Chairs.
A stranger
Is asleep
On the lawn.
+++
WE COULD BOOM BOOM
Saying yes to everything
Does not mean you need
To grunt at each person
Who says hello. I have
Taken this to heart.
When my mind is
A colander beaded
With mercury,
I name the world
RIDING A BIKE
WITH NO LEGS. I look
Into each passerby’s eyes.
There have been quite a few
Moments when I’ve felt
Like I completely understood
The proper way to pounce down
On a stranger from the deep
Shadows of a live oak,
But I never remember
What to do when I’m back
On the mealy ground.
Instead of bolting after
Snatching the purse, I turn totem
Pole & stand like a jack o’ lantern.
I’ve met many people who have died
This way. But I’m a lucky man.
Welcome, welcome. Yes, yes, yes.
+++
COME SWEETLY
It starts
The way
It ends—
Fingers of
Impossible light
Crawling
Over your
Face. In-
Between—mind-
Less waiting.
Mouth-gunk
Or a gunked
Up heart—
Going is just
Climbing
Back inside.