For S.L.V.
We were sitting at the corner of miserable, the streetlight flickering on and off like a soon to be dying firefly
We sat cross-legged — Indian style, meditating on our raucous thoughts twisting like television chords
The old black-and-white kind with alien-tinfoil antennas
The picture in our minds was crackly-fuzzy, then turning Technicolor rainbow blocks
When you know the programming has been interrupted for a very important message
But it was just cars whizzing by with their horns blaring rude and demanding to turn down the street first
Like just by honking louder you could get there that much faster
And once you’ve gotten to said destination, what awaits you?
What did you nearly run over to rush over to?
In such a rush to get nowhere, just to another corner of another street
But perhaps the streetlights aren’t fading on that side of the block
Perhaps there are some colorful neon lights buzzing like fruit flies over dumpsters
Maybe there are musical notes dangling over grocery stores to welcome you inside
Jars of things to fit all your pleasures
Perhaps that is a sufficient enough reason to rush
But we were sitting on the corner and we didn’t have enough reasons
Enough belief or faith, and maybe that’s immoral
And maybe the telephone cables have enough electricity
To shock us and we’ll recoil
And we’ll stop making baseballs out of greasy tinfoil
But for right now we have pigeon feathers
Twirling between middle and forefinger
To tickle our noses
And we’ll sneeze out faerie glitter
It’s harder for us
Just us two
The kindergarten paste that holds our bones together
Is not as strong as Elmer’s glue
If it were simple, something easy
We would not have grown so tough, so callused on our hearts
They would have been soft, squishy, blue-veined things
Not at all so hard to suffocate
I look at you, half of a mother’s genes
And worry if you’d feel more comfortable in someone else’s blue jeans
I could sit on this corner alone
But could never feel right if it was you
So while you are parked, sitting Indian-style at the corner of miserable
Or maybe it’s depressed? My eyes are tired from crying for you, and the street sign’s just a little blurry tonight —
I’ll sit the same way talking to you, listening to your dreams as they shoot off into the sky
Like disco-bright fireworks
And maybe we could be the ones to start setting them off
So the colors are a brightness we can control
Instead of waiting for someone else to light up our skies
We could be something better
We could be those stars hanging like charm bracelets in the night.
*****