✷
Sidewalk
Where the fangs of the oligarchs
violate the sky
violate the sky
and spies were detailed
to tail me
to tail me
to the café
to Maitreya
to Maitreya
to the movies
to the formal garden
to the formal garden
to my home
full of bugs
full of bugs
—you need your super
to love you—
to love you—
and where I can't stop some men
from calling me boss
from calling me boss
and sunset is a stabbing
blade of blood from New Jersey
blade of blood from New Jersey
one kid slaps another.
A third asks Why did you do that?
A third asks Why did you do that?
With a fatuous laugh
the answer comes:
the answer comes:
Because he didn't
have any money.
have any money.
Three thousand miles away
a sidewalk says Eat the rich.
a sidewalk says Eat the rich.
The sidewalk is coming.
Away
Peonies melt like Dalí's clocks
Here where nothing ever happens
Here where nothing ever happens
The Clock in old La Grande
Stays suspended
Like Schrödinger's cat
Stays suspended
Like Schrödinger's cat
Mom says I hate you
Mom says I loathe you
Mom says I despise you
Mom says I detest you
Mom says I loathe you
Mom says I despise you
Mom says I detest you
I run in tight circles
Away and toward
Away and toward
When your mom promises to love you
On condition you drown your little brother
Don't you believe it
On condition you drown your little brother
Don't you believe it
You have to rely on her or
You die
You have to go underground or
You die
You die
You have to go underground or
You die
I run in tight circles
Toward and away
Toward and away
Rochambeau
I see you
in elegant shadows of vines
in elegant shadows of vines
bittersweet
clematis
wisteria
clematis
wisteria
in delicate greenish bristles
of tiny white wild rose blossoms
of tiny white wild rose blossoms
in wheels of light dappled on the path
When two ghouls played rochambeau for my soul
I slipped away into this
unauthorized incarnation
I slipped away into this
unauthorized incarnation
My body is blowing away grain by grain
My consciousness is drifting away droplet by droplet
My consciousness is drifting away droplet by droplet
Before we have to wait
for the next iteration of the universe
even when you've flown away
for the next iteration of the universe
even when you've flown away
don't let the wind take me
Ghost Boy
Baby rabbits everywhere
I barely noticed
While my life ran out
I climbed a mountain path
To find something
Anything
To heal everyone I've touched
A litany from dusk
To dawn and beyond
I didn't have much time
At the top of stone stairs
The ghost of a little boy
In turquoise pajamas
And more baby rabbits
They didn't have much time
A tiny hut
The ghost boy afraid
Waited hidden behind the door
I barely noticed
While my life ran out
I climbed a mountain path
To find something
Anything
To heal everyone I've touched
A litany from dusk
To dawn and beyond
I didn't have much time
At the top of stone stairs
The ghost of a little boy
In turquoise pajamas
And more baby rabbits
They didn't have much time
A tiny hut
The ghost boy afraid
Waited hidden behind the door
✷
Brian Jerrold Koester is a Pushcart Prize nominee and a Best of the Net Anthology nominee. His poetry collection is titled What Keeps Me Awake (Silver Bow Publishing) and his chapbook is called Bossa Nova (River Glass Books).
