carved out of cherry plum
with a secret drawer
wide enough to hold a pencil
with which i will
write the dream
wobbly on its three legs
a touch-tone telephone :
in a phonebooth
as in a bathyscaph
fingers prefer
the fish of deeper vision
such as bristlemouth
or angler fish
dangling their dorsal fins
as phenobarb for prey
to spawn
deap-seated envy
in any number
a condom :
found in "for rent" section
of a free newspaper
& furnished
with lawn-chairs
spare mirrors
& crystal doorknobs -
a sovereign dome
of singular reflection
in storm a pacifier
on sunday a skyscraper
a free verse :
an ocean wave
unfolded
from where
the crest fractures
to the reeve
of zinc that welds
it to its
reverse -
and then to drown
as a grain of sand
in a frivolous
splash
a firework :
letter upon letter
erected
as a tower tall
with trails
of long erratas
and feet
with crimson
toe nails -
licked
by a tongue
of fire
that learns
them all
by heart
as they burn
