Stewardship of the Unknown Strand

Once in a fifty-four
On no one's highway
The small red sports car
Barrels down the nostrils
Splitting atom from atom
In a fiery display
Of vinyl
Metal
And saliva

Fanciful and cunning
The broadsword

Childish laughter
Resounding
Through empty corridors
Of Hail Mary
And faded colored pencils

Switchblade
Of morose beginnings
Swaddles tin-plated
Anniversary dinner
Bathed in amber
And baptized in bleach

Make-up and velvet
Seen by the heart
And the undead survivor

Plastic licorice
Snapping spines
And seething the nerves
Of an entire zoo
Full of bureaucrats

Chimes of Lady Justice
From the
Full-throttle ice cream truck
Aimed straight
At your curves

Masochism
Jaundice
Love your neighbor
As the tornado
Loves the supple breast
Of feeble aspirations

Changing forever
As you cut short
The hair
Which grows tired
With every lap
Around life's
Murderous
Three-ring circus

Gentle
Boiling
Suffering
In the bloody bathtub
That is
Emotional immaturity

Wait and see
For mice
And men alike
Will pounce
At the mention
Of the sweat-soaked crust
Surrounding your
Crystalline womb