heaven is a compound             word                         the sun sunders            us dazzling            so you don’t have to            wonder what wound …

IN THE OUTDOOR SHOWER WITH MY PREGNANT WIFE The old frisbee from Burger Chef, once redbut faded now the pale pink of my wife’swidening aureoles, lies upturnedbeneath the saltwater drip of our saggingbeach towels. This world is full of objectssuccumbing to the gentle ebb of decay. But her body—loosening breasts and blue-veined thighs caughtin a…

UPDATE The boy builds a four-throated fishout of cardboard. The fish lips flap, blue-taped, from a body thatcarried bottles. See! He saysa large-mouth bass. I’d have smiled once (inwardly of course) at his fine imaginary, thought him unspoiled, amusing himselfwith the trash.                               Wasn’t I…