you say explode

the red wine was a pouring in a whirlwind binge
soy sprouts and foul mouthed outbursts,
icicle! popsicle! bicycle! rats!

the tension building upon the tension in a fringe
must be the poetry of lonesome short skirts,
tonsils! advil! Brazil! maps!

you say explode
the way you say things when you matter-of-factly mean it
google! goggles! giggles! fuck.

it all goes kaboom when the summer's in bloom
your ass no longer mine, now Zagat rated
you say explode

the way you say things when in your please-all mode
the mode you say things when it doesn't go your way
still, I rather go to a bring-your-own-beer kind of venue

you say explode, I say yeah!
it all goes down the drain; banal expectations of a normal life
anal perspiration when hostile cruelty is rife

not uncommon, by the way, building up to 7200 degrees
you say explode, sucker
and when that happens, sadly, it all goes stale


norbert norris (New Haven, CT, 1977)

maturity

i recently
took up
fashioning
a beard

        for what
        duration
        do i let
        this thicket
        germinate?

        what is
        the jugular
        etiquette?
        barber every
        two days?

on second
thought

i am
not ready
for this.


lawrence gladeview (Longmont, CO, 1983)

snakes and ladders

hierarchy

prevalence

ambition

escalade

intercourse

solitude

vacuum

descent

hunger

anger

fear

aggression

bad credit loans

submission

hell breaks loose


game instructions:
snake bites pull you down
and you tremble in cold sweat
ladder accidents pull you down
breaking your legs and your morale

go up and down at will
if you can


talbot dillinger (Rome, GA, 1973)