DEL RAY CROSS
Five poems from ANACHRONISMS

lxxvi / lxxvii / lxxviii / lxxix / lxxxi

lxxvi

a bunch of arcane friends
formed a cult

I injected them with
myself who was the

primary target
then I rescheduled

12 staple removers
with a tall glass of water

a gloating airplane
frightened me

it touched St. Louis with
a horde of postcards

I grin about living
in the cusp or clutch

[reverse]

lxxvii

up on me a few nights
with little chest hairs

got some bargains like
a deft kiss with the cat watch

two rolls of film
and a cool-ass cloud

over the swirling barber stripes
a red gray and black cardigan

plus a different kind of candy
every night

2 pornos on the value scale
are then sideswiped by sunburn

everything is so accessible
on the roof

snapshot of the 2 of us
down 7 flights to the laundry

[reverse]

lxxviii

None of the family got blown away.
Whereas, if I start dating again,

what does that mean? We are
tornadoes that spend tons of

money on business ventures.
I slip my left arm over his

long tummy and instantly his
hand slides over mine. This

pyramid scheme is but a twister.
Hey, I’m not taking Prozac and

I’m doing just fine. Our thumbs
are interlocked. Anyway, it

may not be too bad. There are
new ground rules and he shudders

a few times as he drifts into
sleep. My feelings have changed.

This morning is the bluest and
everyone is talking about the weather.

I can see the ocean channel
from where I sit, and the roses

on the fire escape across the
street. Our parent company is

a big dog. And we’re supposed to
get a couple inches of snow tonight.

[reverse]

lxxix

I like watching people
and ships and images in windows

big boats and pasta for lunch
barges and sirens

an amazing site this newest
this not normal window

the people windows and lunch
are t hings that begin to feel

way too normal
this guy who has your name

for example an eloquently put
passion to learn passion

the sirens of the newest window
are cocoa smokestacks of skin

o boy the highlight of this movie
for lunch I feel normal

and hear a punkin sing
“I used to be a little boy”

[reverse]

lxxxi

this wass also day
when swee goodbye
too whereabouts
hhappns of tousled
barrs, both in Texs
and memry. 1,042
hitts nsome gy whho
parntlives or
lived nNw Orleans
got rredfor noses
f somn guise frank
assignmnent.creep
offtoo bayall
flabbergasstedso
now i’m writing
foursom Harv
dunsplit me
two night
feeln so scarred
d jealoussfourteen
later thers secxwith
firstnamererun
seeze one
Polynesianvideo
that’s notsobad
ndit had grasshpeppers
n it withlotssof
salentfeaturs
fame,finally

[reverse]