Monday, September 22, 2014

With Glassy Eyes Turned Upward


Like a smashed possum 
On the road is how I look and feel
Hair crushed to the temple
Sweating in the blood of worry 
And despair

Little possum soul
Rising from the ground
Saying looky here
How I find myself dying 
At the crossroads
Of a very short and somewhat
Stupid little life

The elm and pecans 
Didn't protect me
From the stumble and 
Moment of anguish before
The fall 
In the second of the crunch
I prayed to them 
Last night
To the tree spirits 
And the worry gods
And the  sappy happy fairies
Living in the backyard of my 
Obsessive mind 

I was playing a flute
And swimming down a chute
Facing an awesome and
Ancient god's face 
The whole time wondering
If she'd catch me
With her tongue
Wrap me in a blanket of lace

Possum soup?
Or Possum soul? 
Who cares
I feel like a smashed up possum
And a despised one at that
Caught rummaging through
Your cans and your textbooks
And your hallways and stupid 
Little minds

Little possum in your classroom
Lecturing on days of doom
And observing your own faces
That communicate daily 
The message of gloom
Little possum
Dying on a golden morning and 
Yesterday's rainy day

You have been disconnected. 

Austin, Texas, Nov. 19, 2000 

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