Brothers Abysmal and Dismal

Two brothers, tax collectors
their names printed on every check
sick on richly sweet candy
soft tissues arousing unspoken desires
flowing down a river in central Asia…

Abysmal was simple
his needs were informal
a church of leafy grass
lying between the vegetables…

Dismal was the green color
of an official document
and easily deceived…

Together they absorbed heat
radiated from the earth’s surface,
saluting in friendly gestures
all who passed

except the imaginary gnome-like creatures
who cause mechanical problems
in the presses…

They threw their friendliness by hand,
sometimes used a launcher,
or swift-running dogs
with narrow heads and long legs
running along the power grid…

To each other they caused grief
and deep mental anguish,
usually composed for protest;
fabulous beasts of filmmakers
served on a grill
or the metal gratings of automobiles
were their usual evening fare…

One had the head of an eagle
the other the body of a lion,
unrelenting questioning
in the face of pain
pulverized them by friction
as they weakened gradually…

They used sharp, cutting edges
for polishing and grinding
until, one day, when an emotional stagehand
wandered too close…

Today they complain and groan
with their alcoholic liquor
upper thighs clothed in leather
coarse and crude…

So we leave them, love sick-
two who just could not get life right,
repeatedly torn up by the roots,
left to toil arduously with their namesakes,
these brothers Abysmal and Dismal;

until Dismal got a Honda Shadow 750

and traveled cross-country with his sweetheart

leaving Abysmal in the rain...