sleepwalking

knew him when he was dead,

early spring or late summer, town filled
with the stench of decay
 

a parade for jesus on some

bleachwhite saturday afternoon

flowers and virgins, senile old men

holding rifles, and what i remember is that i
could no longer remember which
century was mine

sat next to an open window

listening to freeway traffic, someone’s
girlfriend screaming in the second
story apartment across the
street, then laughing
 

almost midnight

july maybe, maybe october

birds with broken wings, angels

caught in branches, in nooses,
and politicians, and terrorists, and all of
them concerned with butchery and power

all of them concerned with

vengeance and he said fuck this

said let’s go find a bar and i

knew him to be dead and i knew him

had dated his sister had slept with

his wife and i said wait

i said the parade’s going to start soon

and he just smiled and shook his head

set fire to the house

pulled the trigger

something stupid and dramatic and the

girls on the floats were all
beautiful as they smiled into the sun