Shannon & Sue 4

 

I was erased
a faded smear where in elegant crescent silver
once a fine character stroke was there
this nuevo kid cowboy bombardier
shuffling in quicktime
in flash
in javascript
this the unconscionable ape folded faded flat Spingsteen cap
denim pocket post give a shit spaceball queer
rooftop pervert in pecker palm prints
splits you for two hot weeks

then splits

a hickie like a blue finger smudge
glowing on her translucent skin
Shannon wept
for the years that slipped suddenly somewhere
lost
misplaced she would not confess
and in sheets of grey tears she fought
Roman army hard
to find meaning
for her's was a heart dismantled
a maze
for him

the folded paper rose
was pretty
was not JUST pretty
was also a hidden note
although decades had since stolen her breath
   before it was discovered
yellow'd and still sharp a bulge
in a book since forgotten
those twisted fingers like oak roots
   remembering childish fever
   disentangled the parchment's surprise
penned in faded ink

she fell

Shannon
collapse
collapse of the human stain
collapse of that holy temple
   and them animal bones
the message like deer entrails from a fresh kill
slipped forth
horror
of the note
of the voice that fell from her throat,

- Touch me,
she read softly,
   and I'll sue.

again,
- Touch me I'll sue.

TA

Shannon & Sue 3

 

Shannon bounced
like a brick of cocaine
like my grandma's unconscionable afternoon diaper
she was butterfly bulk and taffy
giggling like lesser apes at the coming of a comet

and so that was how I measured her
as a constellation
a star in her elbow
the tiny pinprick speck of a distant grand galaxy
in her ankle
rubies across her asteroid belt
a hitch in her kick
a clumsy cosmonaut clinging to the rusty nailhead mole
   near the soft folded hood
   hiding her oyster pearl.

- How was prison?
I asked

- I've taken lesser shits,
she said
hard.

- Have you forgotten the face of our love?
I asked
bewitched
dragging heavy on the fag whispering its way
toward my lips
that dancing tip
red hot micro supernova
explosions just
beyond the perch of my crooked nose
illuminating the inadequacies of my disfigured face,

Shannon bounced again
repulsed
swung with heaven's spit
fired her chambered fist of folded knucklebones
@mycheeks
Shannon
she was precision, sure
I was speed
eluding that missile of mayhem I click quick closed the distance
between
she and I
stepped into her embrace unbruised nonplussed
these same lips
   found themselves listing lightly
   on the doorstep of her outer ear
that dancing tip,

- I am no devil,
I very softly said
drizzling my words into the cup of her consciousness,
- But...

  I am a snake.

- What?!
Shannon said
shook,

- Touch me,
I said
reminding her of the mantra of our years,
- and
   I'll sue.

even closer
and lighter still
I said
again,

- Touch me I'll sue.

TA

Shannon & Sue 2

Shannon still thinks she can save me
can you imagine
Shannon
a savior
iridescent night gown shimmering shivering cone falling
lamp light
bullion breasts in sharp shadow
   like husky bullies in a periwinkle fog
she's twirling in similar spiral as my ceramic teacup
ballerina with the broken slipper
Shannon
looping again and again in drunken stupor,

- Take out your yellow'd corkscrew from those
   cotton candy coveralls,
she barked,
   and come meet me in the street.

- If I come forth,
I heard my voice reply
as the cool night air trembled,
   Will you let me march
   as the man I promise you will one day meet?
   Will you let me twirl (also)
   as you do
   but to a song from a Southern constellation?
   Will you allow me to skip like a proud pimp
   like a purple pulsing she-chimp?
   Will you let me cock my hip to the clouds?
   Will you let me bend?
   Will you let me dip?

- No,
she replied,
   I will grab you.
   I will swallow you.

- Touch me,
I said,
   and I'll sue.

- What??
and her stammer was audible
heard by an audience in stadiums ten thousand miles away.

- Touch me I'll sue.
I said it again
simple
not from the pulpit
but from the threshold where through trod the million minutes
of my life.

- Touch me
   I'll sue.

TA

Shannon & Sue 1

 

- Come
    touch me softly,
Shannon said
her mouth full of gumballs and cherry slop,

- Come
    slither hither in your golden skin.

I was taken aback
having just set her jugs on the shelf
where the tools perch
in the shop,
- You can't help yourself,
I said,
-  In your milkweed maiden fare and charm
   thirsty tripled swearing
   in my arms
   touch me, bitch
   touch me and I'll sue.

- What??
she begged
with pouting petulant milksop yellow lips,

- Touch me I'll sue,
I said,

- Touch me I'll sue.

TA