Thelma’s Nursing Home

The bric-a-brac of cancer patients’
Tubes rivet high eyes towards
Her breast. He nurses.
Pink, gummy suction. Blue iris aura.
Esmerelda commands walker militancy.
Madanna and child look up,
Smirk away breakfast.

Hemmingway then Vonnegut remain
Poor company to cotton sheets
Starched beyond familiar America ,
Reeking urine, mashed peas, arythomyacin.
Occupational therapy maintains
Dominos plus pot holders’
Little yarn on institutional frames.

Sirens bring hospital news,
Transfers and patients, all
Silvery monitors.
Elders’ daycare charges draw
Cardboard pumpkin faces,
Marigolds from yesterday’s newsprint,
Kissy puppy placemats.

Occasionally, cats kill, dragging
Carcasses ‘cross winnowed yards,
By-passing bird-dappled chairs.
Misters Benson-Hedges sleep,
Three lungs between them.
Jackie, envisioning neat scotch, speaks
Gallic at Thelma’s nursing home.



Crocodile Tears

Silver fish, in silver pool,
Precious refracted light,
Heavenly sun jewel.

Murky mind, muddied might,
Clever reptile predator,
Deep bog blight.

Lightning flash.

Singular mortality.
The lily pads quiver.



Thirty-Five

Thirty-five cents buys twelve
Pink, sugared bunnies from under
The table; Easter discount

Thirty-five years buys twelve
Pink, sugared memories from under
The radar; wisdom subtracted.

Sometimes a flagrant disregard of Fursuits or of fruity candy
Metamorphosizes enough
To allow clots’ passage.

Sometimes, a flagrant disregard of suits and unpaid servants
Metamorphosizes enough
To allow norms’ transit.