Crackheads

Once upon a time
I shared company with crackheads,
Chasing after euphoric addiction,
the instant good-bye high,
the rocked powder mixture
in a glass or metal fixture,
atop the Chore Boy
scorched brillo.

Crackheads, selective buyers,
supply and demand,
emptied Novocain canisters,
sectioned TV or radio antennae,
straight shooters, power hitters -
with bits and pinches or the rectangular
shaped wafer, alabaster cubes,
uneven crumbs, kibbles stuffed
in puckered orifices - then fired,
the anticipated sizzle,
poisonous inhalation
lethal fumes produced by butane
and cheap lighter fluid.
Sore blistered thumbs
flicking, flicking,
an incessant effort to elicit
amid countless clicks
one last flame instead of sparks
to afire the cream-shaded bitch,
burn the snow in order to numb the brain,
Alter consciousness, derail morality,
Anchor intelligence and creative twist...
Habitual dingbats,
Marvelling and admiring caked "rez",
Lining the nonporous innards of "glass dicks"
Sharing company with crackheads,
stuck on stupid' mired in mindlessness,
a small unstructured world
of Bic lighters, zippos, whitetips, matches
and 151 or alcohol for the suicide;
a small petty world,
hiding and whispering behind close doors,
pulled shades, drawn shades
and venetian blinds.
Lowered t.v. and radio
to hear imagined footsteps, helicopters
and other paranoia phantoms.
Washed out entities,
watching out shouting out "One time"
and mouthing unintelligible,
monosyllabic words,
half-audible, off- the- wall gibberish.

Crackheads indulges,
anywhere any place anytime,
fair game fair play,
no exception to the rule
for a quick hit
behind dumpsters
between parked trucks and cars,
alleys, doorways, broad daylight
and portable johns.
An assumptive, pre-emptive world,
all facets of humanity
lumped together -
priest atheist activist fanatic,
legislators, commentators
no common denominator-
one Hungarian goulash,
Louisiana jumbo shared with Mona Lisa
lady Godiva, Medusa
and pulp pornography.
Minds unhinged
by the drug attack
crack-whack attack
accompanied by razor blades
and mirrors, scratched, dented, smeared
a thousand and one times over.
Fetishes in a squeeze,
fetuses under siege.
Sharing company with crackheads,
synapses tangled branches,
briared tumbleweeds
rolling across deserted mind strips.

Strawberries, raspberries,
tricking for a treat -
sex in a vacuum'
performed in crack houses,
abandoned buildings, mildew garages,
cardboard and concrete condos'
and beneath space blanket shelters.

Sharing company with crackheads
in stretched limos, porches and yachts,
sky scrappers, Tudor mansions
and behind closed door caucuses.
Cruising, navigating through strawberry fields
wrangling over short money,
a hooter, peeper, a pebble
sometimes, disguised do low.
Paged deliveries, drop-bys
drop-offs - dropping dead.
Sharing company with crackheads,
teenagers, seniors,
used-to-Be's, wanna-Be's,
scarred, twisted,
tweaking on skid row asphalt,
ambling from side to side,
inspecting cracks in sidewalks
and creased curbs,
looking for a place to stay,
needing a friend to trust , lay
betray. Looking for drawers
to rummage through.
Values and valuables:
microwaves, jewelery,
furs, cars exchanged for 5-o's
eight tracks, dubs, eight balls and kilos.
Sharing company with crackheads,
chasing euphoric addition
spooked in spoons, shot
through syringes into lumped flesh.
Scandalous forays for a pinch.
Preying victims, murder -
drug addictive babies infective
shelved. Fags and spike dikes
chasing after the euphoric, instant
good-bye high --die.

Enigma

A laurel of crows circled his head
Didn't know if he was alive or dead
Nailed to a cross tied to a post
Had no idea when he gave up the ghost,
goosebumps tattooed his swollen tummy
his face drawn taut like an Egyptian mummy
due to my age I found it hard to remember,
Was it before or after December?

Do you understand what I'm trying to say
Could things had been done in a different way?

A bullet with his name on it pierced his head
nailed on a cross where he cried and bled,
The stark event caused me to wonder
had there been a catasrophic blunder?
Was it an omen of good and bad karma
An unforseen twist in a nightmarish drama,
That took placce in Selma, Alabama?

Do you understand what I'm trying to say,
Could things had been done in different way?

A weathe of doves circled his head
He was too much alive after being dead
Though nailed to the cross and tied to a post
He refused to yeild up his ghost
Wounds in his side and hands revealed
That which was opened was smoothly sealed.

The world is in upheaval
Good versus evil
Zealots and maggots
Whichever way you take it
Few are choosen as a sacrifical tool
To promote or demote the Golden Rule.
The world is afoul with underlings
Conspirators and ding-a-lings?

But, oh! I recall it was a joyeous day
To see an humbled Uncle Sam,
As Nina sang her gutsy song,
Mississippi Goddamn!

Poems That Don't make Sense

(1)

They look like us
tattooed in bulk,
Atlas on a shoestring,
holding up a cindered world,
spewing volcanic mucus
from a five and six pointed star,
reliving slavery, the Alamo and the holocaust.

They sing like us,
devil trills and lusty songs
on pirate and Viking ships
as eagles, hummingbirds and butterflies
soar high and low on piano keys.

(2)

Tettering on a tightrope,
I seesaw above vats of molasses
churned by Aunt Jemima
and Betty Crocker.
Undergoing cosmetic surgery
my face is caked with pizza dough.

(3)

Cyclops and the Seeing Eye dog
slipped passed Cerberus
in mode to free Eurydice
after Orpheus failed attempt.
Three eyes mastered the task
as Pluto slept.

two lines a day or more

In the lens of my camera I captured the fluttering of a butterfly. My friend winked at me before he died. When reaching into my full pocket, I knew emptiness. In the beginning God created consciousness and dreams. Two lines a day - confining, Three line a day -refreshing. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, A smile a day keeps anger at bay. Wisdom comes with age, so does foolishness. Big Brother is a monster with two horns and a forked tongue. Politics and religions are void of justice. The Creator is an androgynous entity. Mongo gives and Mongo takes away. Anger poisons the blood and numbs the mind. Each second of sleep equals an hour of death. Gambling is the surest way to win or lose. A sincere smile is an expression of loving wholeness. Achivement is colorblind. Lunacy is the absence of sanity. Most humans have a brain without the means to use it. I'd rather have a hundred days with my animals driving me crazy than one day without them. Friendship is neither cheap nor expensive. The measure of ones worth is measured by ones worthliness. Neither the tongue nor mouth are discriminatory when it comes to cunnilingus and fellatio. I pray fifty times a day for world peace. We all need a little poison in our lives. Your neurosis is my psychosis. Forgive me for trying to help you. Sometimes it's advantageous to brave a cowards mien. Mindful forgetfullness is one path leading to the fountain of youth. Always try having a big heart and a concrete mind. Sometimes generalities are profound. I'm forever dancing on the arch of a rainbow. Cutting a cats claw is inhufeline. At the start of any bout the outcome is known. Imitation is a form of thievery. Trusting can be a form of self-punisment. A programmed mind can not expand. Stages are to pass through not to remain in. No human is born standing on two feet. The devil is commercial-minded. He advertises. Guilt is for those with a conscience.

Emmett Till/The Happening

The Breeze joined in the happening
And was courted by Wonderment
Lush Flowers opened petaled heads
An acknowledged sentiment

The Sun peek-a-booed with Clouds
Before finding a patch of the blue
And Birds that soared into the Sky
Were cuddled in God's view

Thin blades of Grass swayed nervously
Leaves kissed a pulsating Earth
As Hummingbird and Butterfly
Delayed their nectarous search

Forked Branches of tall trees sagged low
As to witness what was to come
Mixed Pebbles in a Brook were lulled
In the waters restless hum

A Stream nearby a shallow cave
Linked their astonishment
To see which way the Youth would run
Whose strength was nearly spent

The Boys face was a silhouette
One of anguish inked in fear
His Eyes wide orbs of disbelief
As shouts and yelps drew near

Barking Dogs wagged anxious tails
Anticipation aired
Within ear range of the Youth
Vulnerable and scared

The mob blitzed an aching woods
Their footsteps shook the land
They moved like Marionettes possessed
By devilish command

The Breeze still inquisitive
What had the Fugitive done
The Sky paraded clumps of Clouds
As if to tease the Sun

Chirping Birds winged homeward
Earthworms sought their holes
Leaves fluttered nervously
Near evil seething souls

We's gonna ketch 'im dat's fer shore
Was stated as a fact
And others cried weal 'ang 'im 'igh
Icing on their pact

Timeless seconds ticked-tocked by
Nature flexed her guard
Tense, alert, danger-wise
She waited to be marred

The throng was armed with clubs and guns
Braided and twisted rope
Pitchforks and cans of gasoline
Ruled out whatever hope

Growling dogs leaped their leashes lengths
Nearby a grove of trees
Betrayed the sweat-soaked panting Youth
Crouched on hands and knees

The wicked, jeering, sadistic mob
Let the animals free
Delighted in the biting fangs
Of canine savagery

The Lad succumbed the hammering blows
Disfigured limb and face
He was left hogtied and charred
In that violated space

The Breeze exhaled a painful sigh
The Sun crashed through a Cloud
Flowers closed their saddened heads
And Heaven cried aloud

The bloodstained Grass bowed reverently
An Owl perched in a Tree
Captured with unflinching Eye
That act of infamy