Dark Blank Space 

Night swallows the brown mountains 
and replaces it with dark blank space.
The birds must have been fed poison 
because there is not one in the horizon.
The devil went and stole their voices too.
A mini-hell has taken hold between 
one a.m. and two a.am. This is when
all hell breaks loose. Read the papers.
Nothing good happens at these hours.
This dark blank space finds itself 
lodged inside my brain over and over
again. I sleepwalk at these hours and
find myself in the kitchen drinking
until I pass out on the cold floor.


*


Out of the Sky

If white doves fall out of the sky,
who will save me without wings?
I tremble at the mere thought.
Who will save me without wings?

The stars fall out of the sky.
They are drowned out at sea.
No one could put out the fire
while all the birds fall in as well.

Who will save my eyes as they stand 
witness? Who will pour me drinks?
I have one arm tied behind my back.

I stick out my tongue at the voice
that contemplates my suicide.
The stars and birds burn at sea.
I love the colors but hate the carnage.

I suppose the sea will birth new stars
and birds. I will believe it when I see it.
The streets are too dim and quiet
without them as I walk towards the sea.


*


A Shoe for a Nose

The clouds gather in the sky.
I see one that looks like a face
with a shoe for a nose.
Another one looks like a bat
missing a wing, the left one.

Blue skies and white clouds provide 
nourishment for these eyes
that would rather see
them than another newspaper 
article about the end of a life.

A lovely sunny day and
clear skies with a handful of clouds 
is all I can stand
today. Perhaps I will eat tacos
and the day will be perfect.