Because of you
I carry a kazoo
Once in a while I pull it out
Give it a blow
Somehow I can't make it sob
Not the way you did.

It's only a matter of time
before I am hauling around 
a sac full of objects
I cannot operate


As published in Licton Springs Review 2014: https://lsr2014.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/kazoo/

Clip Clip Clip Clip
Clip Clip Clip Clip
Clip Clip Clip Clip
Clip.

There. 
You have no hair.

I'm a disabled villain on the prowl
Grasping for any fleeting thought or vision
Stiff limbs flailing
Trapped in the folds of a brain

I dreamed that the cicadas would bring forth some verses
But they remain dormant somewhere beneath my feet
Stifling a love song
They are not yet ready to die

Vultures feast in the middle of a country road
Pause when I pull up-guarding their meal
Squirrels spring across the treetops
Flying ahead, they escape to the state line

The road dissolves behind me
The earth blackens under a new moon
I return home empty handed

Shady of you to change your name again.
I should have asked for identification.
A thumbprint or
a blood type.

This time I won’t be fooled.
You so tender,
mending my sweaters,
checking on my battery.

A stranger with the same name
writes my name in the stars,
and once again,
I don’t ask for ID.

I’m raiding the hope chest
I never really understood what it was for.
It’s stuffed with postcards and letters,
Notebooks and journals,
Post-its and greeting cards,
Drawings and books,
Photos and music.

When the time comes,
I won’t forget who I am.