a shirt we could not afford

we didn't read our fortunes
     because the tiles were supernaturally
clean
we pressed the cookie against our teeth
     waiting for a phone to
dry
we soaked the paper with our pen
     forwarding the bones to the mortgage
lender
we rested the morsels against our tongues
     hoping they would dry before the first
bite
we would not hear about the future
     in which we would come to
live
we wrapped the blood from the feast
     in the shirts we could not
afford
we did not believe in words
     we questioned what they would mean to
us

two chapters

two chapters on an open page working their way away from each other

diverging into two threads the story goes in its own directions

from this point the sun looks back and forth over the word
                                                             fading imperceptibly the pages

          the future is left out to disappear

          the past is left over to vanish

from a distance the chapters unfurl as a single long page

the letters make thin unbroken lines like marching ants
                                                             their hills covered by overturned covers

the mystery unresolved is the title read backwards in gold

Green; a film

Quick flash

Cut to:

the spinach field gnashed between my toes     the blood flowing

green in the lithe vapors      

                                         that from above feature the characteristic

of a soggy river's delta

Fade to:

outstretched arms for balance     ambiguous arms

follow the perfect horizon of elbow rising to forearm gently downhill
to hands     green haze of the sun   
                                                      hallucinatory illusion of brushed
fingernails     fleshy like stewed greens

Rehash

Zoom out:

the imbalanced chemicals that circulate through the brain

plastic wrapped in flesh     armored by the skull

dripping green tints of sweat

                                               hazel reflections of

post-induction of tears     transform the sky into a green void

muffle the soft steps     paint the arms like a forest growth

reaching across toward the break     darker greener     darker

The End.