shad flies storming
skull flag
cabin

spy them orbit crumbs
now bone

just winks before mum
quilted over

door
to summer

scabbed on roof
of mind-

dreams of luna
in my
lap

enshrined.

hollowness
in being crowded
at taped off time of day
doorbell screams
i crank up screen
to shrink behind those
hard not to see
though i’m no better
crude and petty
palms pressed to skull moon
cold and sweaty.

you’re a chord change
in quicksand
song

rewound to skip
the fade,

smokescreens only delay
mirror’s gaze,

each surface
blemish-

a stroke of
genius,

both hands firmly on
your helmet,

i spit hornets
but half mean it,

watching a dove
land

in desert hand
of man

like shrine to
longing.

sun kissed music
is a portal

to nostalgia
sponged from pictures

scattered over
split foundations,

daisies strain through teeth
like train tracks-

pleas for pardon while
sweat hardens,

planting garbage in
dream gardens.