This was when I worked mornings
at the Institute for Careful Coloring
Before I’d renamed“ Majestic”
After I’d begun demonstrating
the exposable parts of my skull
Basically I was spinning
the great fluorescent
<Heavenly Wheel>
Thump thump goes the needle
into a heavy sailcloth
We are headed to sea
once everything’s ready
which is where I’ll be
a blue whale or an architect
building buildings and leaving them
out in the rain

We have not been unlucky

One thing I’ll say about my sister
is that a mango can have
a two-fisted heart and a long
ponderous line of stitches
You’re given the book of
foreboding before
the book of specific disasters
I imagine you’re safe in
the starlight’s sinus
Bring me back the right way
to say
your name