excerpts from SENTIMENTAL EFFIGIES

5.

no one just some

holy motherfucker dead in the
shallow end of late winter sunlight and
down on the beach the righteous and
the just are laughing are singing are
crucifying his son and
in the aftermath of war all
gods are equally useless

in the slow passage of days all

poets & priests wait patiently to be
broken on the wheel of their
own desperate faith

6.

and every wish is

someone’s death no matter what you
choose to believe and no one’s
going to laugh if you cry
because no one’s
going to care

15.

dreams of the trailer at the

edge of the corn field, dreams of
silence and rape and
wakes up thirsty

wakes up and then

wakes up again like in the
movies and he thinks he’s still
                                  dreaming

dreams the bed is a tiny shrinking

island in a relentless tide
of blood

wakes up laughing at the

thought of mercy