exclamation point
© 1996 Devon Koren

we unhitch, we unharness
the conclave mirrors forget the words i wear for you
this asphalt galaxy of streetpost stars
a dozen revolutions this evening
days, weeks, numbers grow fragile
glass spoons, plastic forks, pocketknives
five points or seven and one lump or two
a throat collapses on a sunday morning
a tongue explodes into the stars
like fingernails
those brittle illusions
bit, chewed, spit out
a million broken mirrors
mercury
winged feet and broken toes
the floor of space whispers
slippery when wet
caution lights wrapped around the jupiter rings
a shredded maypole in hot july
you can learn a lot of things from the flowers
yes
it's alice's birthday and no one forgot
at seventeen the horoscopic horizon still appears shrouded
murky water of sunlight, clouded reality lost
air breaks apart, mad professors bludgeon young lungs
and young love beaten worse
weathervane
to the north the compass is blind
colors lost, covered, life is filtered through
butterfly gills, winged needles
screams serpents and telescopes
begin!