~prism

1

i was   for so long  interested
in your   face cream

every night   gazing into the mirror
  you  apply it  attentively

in the morning     you
are smooth and soft

i sit     on the counter
i read    the ingredients
on your face   cream
      

2

we're eating a pizza in the park
the crickets chirp at you
a black suv presses
tiny rocks into the nearby road
it's been circling for a while
crunching   waiting maybe
i could not care any less
      

3

the wind blew dust and detritus
against the side of
the house
for one hundred years
      

4

every night i
dream the same dream
the same city on a shallow slope
an electric bus that slowly leads
down to a bar near the water
it overlooks the orange
empty sky   every drink
is one i've never tasted
and nobody ever speaks to me
      

5

it wasn't long
before one hundred
more years passed
thirty-three years a bad time
dry eyes and sore back
thirty-three years an okay time
half-asleep in the back
of a bus
thirty-three years a good time
walking writing
softly carefully into the trees