Dan Sicoli
flaming moai surrounded by
melted salt buoying jaunty kilts
mob technology in gimlets
crash barkers trans-fixated
squawk freedom in joy-held rote
certain choices rocked
no vengeance no future no quilts
test kick bombs universe city
floating on cornea
capers cop and feelers
what matter what solid what gas
opposite retract especially truths
in any time in anytime in time as time
roost roast the badger
rash or as rush loss
cornea slushed flushing rushing spleen
crew capsule dice men
float out corkscrew
time in out in out flesh bas
spread fluid food druid
all moai bowling asteroid
knew moon
morning-she exploded like parade-he: spectacular currency meted: this area below is dirt-felt and dirt-felt is insect-love: morning-she warmed early with regret: an untouched angel: cool hues chill where we neglected to kneel: when mother-dust turned exhaust we had nothing but brief breath moth wing to fill pockets and bellies: flag-whiffler snarled: flag-whiffler swaggered chanting chaining and caging instead of scheduling: cower-gops buffered: parade-he was an unslapped boy: indivisible one wonders: fear of resemblance:
morning-she dozed off like flag-whiffler in mid-sentence: adderall for sure: hogs danced on dirt-felt without an aura: we needed to pour on bleach and splatter pollock: instead we were led back with guns directing our backs: flag-whiffler had soured proof: days were all that shielded:
i stood up to be closer: raised my arms and cupped my hands forming a flesh bowl thinking it could contain sol-fe and prayed her sacred illumination would not scar me: in some ways new moon-she provided relief: take my guitar for kindling
there is no simple explanation as to why my stomach
has been left alone by the river bank
i am here to announce success
if there were trumpets well then!
peace is a learned affliction often difficult to endure
unlike pain or a memory
a dog instinctively knows where not to tread
some days schooling naysayers seems reasonable
but my neighbor sets traps to catch wind
the noise keeps us up at night
:perhaps the chiming
his insolence can be elegant
as acid
rushes from my belly
if you can be the line you can be the line
it is normal to behave like this:
until the oven hours clock us
and it’s time to make dough
nuts
dirge of wagered dogs
we washed it in the river with no name
or rather it slipped from our hands
or actually
we gave it away
forfeited
the way only water once separated us
willed us
slowly turning by unseen influence
allegiance diluted by rampant tides
clouds crowd a recluse sun
like a posse cornering an escapee
and nothing no longer evaporates
or ever gets cleansed
and this morning i think back to
a house of promises along the shoreline
surrounded by loose dogs
a garden hose playing possum
and a rusting tricycle in an awkward headstand
and unlicensed cars damp with dew crowding the driveway
and the outline of something forgotten singed into
our long-ago a-frame
we should have known better
than to sort it out with collateral
losing ours steps
in the water moss
after hearing of the river girl’s passing
our rage became kindling
through a speeding window
we saw
heartless men swing clubs
on stolen homesteads
the bastards play through
another suicide king’s lament
harvest girl
depictions
often imagined an aura
dutiful
gathering
bountiful
a golden light spirit
after labor
hugging a wickerful
message of whining fields
scenting yellow
straw-bone white strewn
chaste
distilled from distant
Dan Sicoli has published poems in numerous litmags, anthologies, and e-zines including A New Geography of Poets, Angel Rust, Bathtub Gin, Blue Collar Review, Bop Dead City, Chiron Review, Divot, Dirt City, Ethel Zine, EXPERIMEMENTOS, Heeltap, Nailpoiish Stories, Perfume River Poetry Review, Quercus, Rat's Ass Review, Serving_Suggestion, The Birds We Piled Loosely, and, Zero City. When not editing Slipstream, you might find him banging on an old guitar in a garage rock band in and around Niagara Falls, NY. www.pw.org/directory/writers/dan_sicoli