now here's the story

------------------------------------photo susi white


now here's the story
of a place so cold palms
rubbed themselves together
to have something close to hold

the sacred sites and chapels
lost their faces to the mold
grown by the foggy tongues of liars
who left the truth untold

give us strength
to slay these dragons
give us faith
to lose control
with the smokey eyes of battle
grant us grace
to unfold

we fled from eve's garden
abandoned the knoll
where the mother served her blessings
and the angels took parole

the saints have all gone running
put down their holy poles
they poked portals in the heavens
and are slipping through the holes

fifty foot flames

you pry apart the lips
of a fifty cent lawn chair
garage sale bargain
lock jawed with sea air

there's nothing in this town
but a lost child's theater
you'd passed my house
a thousand times
though you didn't know
i lived there

why does it take
fifty foot flames
for us to walk across the street
to learn
our neighbors names

the shingles slide like playing cards
the windows melt like taffy
the door frames snap like toothpicks
smoke bitter brown as coffee

you're flushed with blush- igneous
fire fingers flick at us
we take a turn to watch it burn
a heated urn
to love
love
we love to learn
we learn to burn
we burn to learn
we burn to learn

you pry apart the lips
of a fifty cent lawn chair
garage sale bargain
lock jawed with sea air