New Orleans
sinks
under its burden
of water and trees
with eyes half shut
the city sees
itself
mirrored in water
city of queens
doors half open
half invitation
half reflection
disneyland
is more real than these
moss covered trees
an old lady
rocking
trying to remember
what it is she has forgotten
Jacky
has eyes
like jewels
not aquamarine
like her rings her eyes
are dark green
under her stetson
they gleam
with wicked intelligence
and her hair has been
made pale gold
to set them in
her fingers
play with her rings
this is not the intelligence of words
they understand
shapen and misshapen things
her dreams
are solid indulgences
my girl
likes boys
especially new
ones she likes
girls too
she likes
lines across
an empty page
she likes
black and white
she is
fine
drawn like line
drawings
narrow
like Macintosh chairs
and when she smiles
a design
of tiny flowers
flares
Josephine
tastes of amphetamine
coal dust
poppers
and cocaine
and the innermost recesses of my body bear the traces
of where she’s been
