poem of the day 02.18.16

i thought i daydreamed the sunset

the taste of excrement

on my tongue

from a sewer blown in a storm

you can’t have it seventeen degrees one day

fifty-five the next

without a little bit of rain falling

without pipes bursting

rivers of shit

waterfalls of piss

microbursts of vomit etc.

pouring out from under doors

filling hallways and closets and kitchens

a flotsam of serving bowls

and christmas tree boxes passing by

the intestinal track of this whole neighborhood

gurgle-swirling in the deluge

turds like driftwood on the mighty mississippi

such a beautiful stink

i think i might die in this wicked failing infrastructure

standing here on the edge

of the basement steps

like a dumbstruck tourist on a dock

waiting for the sun to set

watching brown icebergs melt into putrid slop

telling two girls that it’ll be all right

helplessly trapped on a tabletop

holding their noses

they are so pale so white

i doubt they believe me

as the foul circles around them

splashing so childishly

so careless like fun on the beach

creeping inch by inch

going into refrigerators

contaminating water bottles

sneaking up toward electrical outlets

our own little FEMA disaster

if it keeps on rainin’ the levee’s goin’ to break

we watch the garbage can tip over

and sail around the room

slow like the steamboat natchez

spilling trash as it bobs along

i declare

oh, this south will rise again, man.