XI.
Ptolemy wasn't guilty
he didn't plan the deed
arc of blue above the pyramids
sky aswarm with vultures
lost, the army struggled
clogged tight with sand
the air was a wall
you had to climb
no sleep at night
heat baked our souls
evidence accumulated
the guides had been paid off
who knew
where the fuck we were
XI.
I blasphemed
and was branded
the Indians
Tuscaroras, Senecas or Onandagas
smiled in sympathy
scalps crawling on their rawhide
they danced like red dervishes
we smoked old leaves
past deeds forgotten
sun set red as a bullet hole
eyes dry as toast
began to weep
fire water please, I stammered
in their difficult tongue
Holy Water
will be the death of me
XII.
Down deep in the belly
of the Admiral's flagship
the plan was hatched
a rotton egg of ingratitude
vile betrayal
in the billows of the following sea
the Horn battered us days and nights
tops'ls blew their grommets
prancing, blue blood officers
denied the Wrath of God
ordered hornpipes danced
ordered triple grog disbursed
below In hammocks
violently swaying
we discussed our plan at length
until, with an ease we weren't expecting
we slipped like stones
beneath an awesome sea
XIII.
Bones kept rattling
in the steamer trunk
Masie said she couldn't sleep
I could hear her rapid breath
took the wrong road between
Lafayette and Vilanow
trees thick as bamboo
blocked the sun
I kept checking my pocket
making sure it was there
cold comfort after all this time
in the rearview I looked like death
where was the god damned town!
I made a desperate turn
Masie laughed at something
neon exploded in our face
XIV.
In the bleachers no one paid attention
what he did was in the bag
Blond haired nubiles
danced on the dugouts
the short stop never looked
in their direction
at eight pm the lights came on
the scoreboard became a Christmas tree
fireworks bloomed all over town
the celebration was spectacular!
just an old brown paper bag
no one on the clean up crew
had any idea
the sins and emissions he'd left behind
XV
They didn't navigate like most things
but drifted, dandelion light
when the suns are both at zenith
they seemed haloed in gold
why did they purge them, you ask
they harmed no one
My mother can remember fields
carpeted thick and the smell,
the smell she said was enough
to make you crazy
no more
no more
there was blood in the air for awhile
but that's how life is
the young always
devour the old
...
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