road works

1.
"Do you want to talk?" "No. Turn up
the radio." The price of divorce
hits new lows. And we're driving.
Hungry puddles.
The great lake schooner'll get you there sooner.
Felt the thrust of its wings.
Many fruit are fallen. They
are marred, big-pitted, and sweet.
"Look, it's a bug-eyed old Italian."
Throw it out in the rain and
it'll be gone by morning.
"I like hopeless and defeated things"
Butterflies on my wall and my toes are numb
Facedown and pillowless in your restive dead-man sleep.

2.
Jitterbug crawls out of rotten berry
Aeneas Shaw pops a zit at the 7-11
It's a Martian dusk composition
cooking on the honeycomb grill
"No Parking Any Time Except Thursdays"
Smoking on the homestead she absconded with
the chickens and the children      "No Parking Thursdays Only"
"Oh yeah?" says the ice-cream man
idler and fisher of children
who know better and do so and make a killing
"Come home with me?" No. Yes. Let's see what
you're made of      95% dough 5% soul
midnite carpentry hammers out a warning
alleging misgivings at the headwaters of the Allegheny.

3.
Shadow spatter road tar kill
"boys with fairy tattoos in their armpits
look for a place to spray their star"
raggedy sky lemon crinkled shirt
"I'm a wreck" "don't say it" steer
for the corroded arrowhead crown of wild turkey
total polymer conversions ink into money
vacant corner revival nightly
revved up and waiting drank the tea creak
new country slowdown on the skyway
silos of gasoline smiles
wander into a roadhouse where
the band plays at jazz
"I can't do it anymore. You drive."