Death Breathes Quick

(in memory of Jean-Michele Basquiat)

Warhol dreamed a tender corpse disciple
in the silhouette of his fingers flailing;

did we ever really know his name?
did we ever really know the prince's
face whose crown we heard?

Samo slept in boxes,
leaves in pigtail dreads.
He painted tires for the
shredded minds of soldier foot fools.

Can you taste his frustration
like our ignorance sat bitter
on his tongue?
Does it taste like heroin death,
like cocaine distraction,
like graffiti to an insane god?

stop signs are out of place
on a street that's not yet
finished. and paint cans
run thin when death breathes quick.

Don't smile anymore, Jean-Michele;
just run with your robe
wide open to the wind,
and we will know your name,
and our tears shall stain your
canvas with the knowing
you so desparately wanted to share.

Death breathes quick
when shredded minds
empty paintcans
with fingers flailing thin
as basement dreams.

death breathes quick.

______________________________________

PORCELAIN ANGELS

trembling,
absence absorbed
in tender seduction,
severed abstraction,
careless resurrection,
breathes
a random gesture,
a casual echo,
a dusty yawn
embracing devotion.

prophets
feed empty stomachs
with fragmented hope,
vacant eyes
with an uncertain passage of
gathering time,
intoxicated minds
with the elixir of eternal life,

leaving
no elements to drown
in a brittle lagoon of
porcelain angels
bleeding sacrifice
to a broken god.

sacred voices linger
like blind, perfumed child
wearing
glassy, haunted trust
in a cold fever
dark cloud
of steel belly
desire;

and the prophets
breathe
tender seduction
to a newborn,
empty stomach
alchemist
intent on
sustaining the
motion of Truth's
brittle resurrection.

_______________________________

LET THE STALE BREAD BUDDHAS
LIE DOWN AND REST

Have you seen velvet teeth
in the mouth of Madness,
purple satin pupils in a
poet's eyes,
lace nipples
on the future's fragrant breast?

Have you played hopscotch
in a sparrow's nest,
bled desire in an unfettered
boat breathing patience,
sipped silence
from a silk-strawed
glass of hope?

Stale bread Buddhas rest
on the woodpile
as poets
carry water
to the masses;
forget everything,
drink deep,
and
be
free.....

_______________________________________

STALE GUM WISDOM

old man on street corner,

west side

of town...

he breathes

uncertainty

with each

step...

at his feet,

crushed can,

memorial

to a young boy's

anger...

memories

of sadness

whisper heavy-foot

on concrete

steps

to the

wilderness,

and self-righteous tilt

to his gait,

the old man

stumbles

briskly,

whistle balancing

on salt-shaker edge

of sidewalk dreams...

he chews

wisdom

like stale gum...

old man

fingers

coffee-stained beard,

pausing

somewhere between

walls of Faith

and Madman fantasies

of luxury...

old man

whispers

white walled night,

he chews wisdom

like stale gum,

and he hides

his wings

from our fear...

________________________________

AND BESIDES

red velvet curtains are drawn

tight over your eyes,

hiding well the tears,

but not the passion.

and besides, I am blind

and need not look into

your eyes to see your love.....

(...behind red velvet curtains...)

iron shackles bind your lips together,

holding in the words,

but not the moans.

and besides, I am deaf

and need not words or moans

to hear your love.....

(...bound in iron shackles...)

gloves of thorns adorn your hands

keeping in their softness,

but not their warmth.

and besides, I am clothed

and need not flesh against mine

to feel your love.....

(...gloved in thorns...)

sound-proof walls surround your ears

deflecting my words of affection,

but not the longing voices

of your own soul.

and besides, I am mute

and need not speak

to tell you of my love.....

(...behind sound-proof walls...)

you - bound in iron shackles,

hands gloved in thorns,

behind sound-proof walls

and red velvet curtains.....

me - blind, deaf, mute, and clothed

and yet....still,

we make love...

all text copyright 1997, Christopher Pond
 chris@coffeenet.net

_______________________________

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