I lost my trees.
I lost my silver moons.
Langston Hughes
Oblivion Bed
Streetlight is the strangest moon.
All those squares of light, stars.
I woke up with your great-grandmother’s
bones in my mouth.
Where two or three are gathered
something has to be done.
Your child in a 911 jacket.
Leave the past in the past.
Our capitalism was off.
Not a trickle of rain for years.
Each of us wary of the other:
snake-shaped forms
in the periphery.
We liked to think of your
kindness as absolution.
Our history making us queasy.
Some nervous laughter.
I told her to do her work
on her knees. On pebbles.
All that flimsy
power needed guns
to keep this story going.
And the flowers seemed so real.
We were impressed with the digital sky.
The things they did on your father’s side.
I shook my blameless head.
A woman on the street yells
fuck everybody.
Her mouth full of
centuries, igniting
the air like a flame.
I made her sleep
without a blanket some nights.
Could you take your crying and crying
somewhere else?
Our ghost patrol
had easy bullets.
We were all boom like you were
notpeople
not “the best lunch man”
gangcriminalthug
suspectsupsectsuspect
shattered stars in the grass
all the shine rubbed off
It cut everyone to pieces.
I lost my silver moons.
Langston Hughes
Oblivion Bed
Streetlight is the strangest moon.
All those squares of light, stars.
I woke up with your great-grandmother’s
bones in my mouth.
Where two or three are gathered
something has to be done.
Your child in a 911 jacket.
Leave the past in the past.
Our capitalism was off.
Not a trickle of rain for years.
Each of us wary of the other:
snake-shaped forms
in the periphery.
We liked to think of your
kindness as absolution.
Our history making us queasy.
Some nervous laughter.
I told her to do her work
on her knees. On pebbles.
All that flimsy
power needed guns
to keep this story going.
And the flowers seemed so real.
We were impressed with the digital sky.
The things they did on your father’s side.
I shook my blameless head.
A woman on the street yells
fuck everybody.
Her mouth full of
centuries, igniting
the air like a flame.
I made her sleep
without a blanket some nights.
Could you take your crying and crying
somewhere else?
Our ghost patrol
had easy bullets.
We were all boom like you were
notpeople
not “the best lunch man”
gangcriminalthug
suspectsupsectsuspect
shattered stars in the grass
all the shine rubbed off
It cut everyone to pieces.