The Salton Sea  
 

It’s said the Salton Sea is a drainage pond for the vast Imperial Valley-

Breadbasket of the nation 

And just when I think I’ve seen it all…

an old man in a tomato red tuxedo water skis passed a flock of pelicans.

I go for a walk 

The water is receding from the beach like a shy girl in a disco tech. The lake will be dead in another 50 years      

White sand beaches are littered with the bodies of dead green fish. They remind me of dollar bills scattered in the snow 

Sea gulls pick at the bleached bones of a cat
 

The hotels are empty and the palm trees have died eons ago.
 

I thought I saw the skeleton of a dinosaur in the trash heap behind the Howard Johnson’s. 

Someone’s opened a fire hydrant and it’s pissing precious water down the road. 

The ancient body of a Winnebago sits in the lot across from a deli its tires are flat and someone’s spray painted “Earth First!” in blue paint across the back of the motor home. I think it was used in a movie once.
 

Not far is a tavern 

Two bills get you a glass of cheap bourbon 

Not far is a peer
 

A pile of bacon grease lies on the walk to the water the fat’s coated with blowflies 

Watch your step. 

My dogs investigate the dumpsters behind the Chinese restaurant.
 

Somewhere out here there’s supposed to be a wildlife refuge.

Captain Caveman just rode by on a Schwinn bicycle--



The sun falls behind the atomic mts.

Good luck, good-bye


from the Salton Sea