no cocktails at Sharon’s barn

An Crann

By Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill

Do tháinig bean an leasa
le Black & Decker
do ghearr sí anuas mo chrann.
D’fhanas im óinseach ag féachaint uirthi
faid a bhearraigh sí na brainsí
ceann ar cheann.

Do tháinig bean an leasa
le Black & Decker
do ghearr sí anuas mo chrann.
D’fhanas im óinseach ag féachaint uirthi
faid a bhearraigh sí na brainsí
ceann ar cheann.

wls’ interpretation

do that thing beans and greens

leave the vacuum at the door

do get me anise more crunch please

Delfina’s husband i’m not on it

Agnes’ feather chains contribute

to Fina’s husband’s bad urethra

Le’faida ate at Barragan’s while suffering

terrible waves within the brain

Celine’s dress can at times be archetypal

do that thing you do with swing

and kiss me hard dear Lisa

put black peeper on the floor

did Gary travel from Uranus

more charisma please Ms. Shirlee

du’waana go to Sunland

i’m searching for some air and group

the disco club where walls are surreal

ok no brainer i understand

no cocktails at Sharon’s barn

hindsight

choice of youth

she tasted of memory

Selma ave where i fought a fight

bloody knuckles injured eye

it didn’t have to happen

but to drink my life away i made the choice in May

pain she’s tricky and eludes my reason at times

i’m left unto myself a sobbing child and so swinging back in madness

dignity falls down there is no count to tell

long gone are days of curbside medics looking for a score

safe behind a dignified door of comfort now with flagellating thoughts

if i could do it all again

brink

it’s no good
i’m dubious should i or not
i took a walk around and around
inventoried the lost opportunities
of finding myself
Billie Holiday laments
and so do i
good morning heart ache she asks
i follow in a raspy girl whisper
what’s new
had i been a raconteur
would i had made a difference
in the mind that crazy hapless ass
i trudge a long time
exhausted
questioning
and as if by sheer exhaustion
the conclusion that i have no control
is reached

emancipated bird

these days some short some long these nights redemption lost taken somewhere far on the beaks of three little birds

when the mind is placed in a certain situation we recall and cherish when our feet were our carriage like when we shared my only bed

and holding onto to what we had was all that we needed being devoured by the light of your energy

but all i’ll ever have are those three blackbirds you bought when you went away

LA girls can channel A. Ginsberg too C19/2020

their bodies as tired as my mind are a conglomerate of recycler rim shop churches and everything is gated and stifled as the spirit of the child i’m looking for chain link fences rent free beautification of Western Avenue top $ cash paid open we buy metal Medicare Part D appears almost as much as “Jesus Saves” i’m in on all of these treasures that no one takes the time to look at i still cannot find my girl i always stop at 13 seconds i ask

Iglesia cristiana el remanente fiel testimonial Cathedral and Christian school Church of God in Christ iglesia pentecostés primer amor next to the color TV by RCA motel that is open 24 hours Sermon on the Mount Bronco motel on the corner of Western and 55th United African church marked up by the 55 kids crew and all the horny husbands whose wives are left alone demand a price menu for my most exquisite lips

night flows cold nerves exploded at the tips Chinese laundry out to dry the sky the stars turn off one by one and birds are sinking under mud blue gods of the century turn west and all along the mountain lightning stops to cry the purple mud dies on the day of war maroon worms climb up no legions loom and the resurrection is postponed because of my ignorance

that is cast over the horizon of sanity

and the expectations of the rules

these chains are only invisible

and a prayer will break them through

the secret in plain view

in front of those scared eyes

the more decent we become

the harder they will come

truth continues to stay stuck

3000 years ago

evolution in an isotope

is not the way i go

brussel sprouts

pine table size 3 wine toned Mary Jane’s from Roebucks and Sears

chair aged and rubbed faded in all the places Sherlock Holmes would investigate

faded Levi jeans holed at the knees fixed with a Wonder Woman patch

Tupperware plate off beat psychedelic green and she sipped her hootch from fine bone China

blue eyes to me liver and onions gold chains on her cleavage and one scrambled egg on her rye toast and butter

Starsky and Hutch were fixin’ to start and those damned brussel sprouts between me and the screen

then the neighbor comes by and they both lose their minds over some CBS scandal

now is my chance i run to the trash flip up the flap and in goes the midget cabbage

and i watched my whole show practiced the Huggy Bear victory stroll while celebrating my four year old courage

the next selection

nobody has sung me to sleep
i think as the green chile frozen burrito thaws in the 7-11 microwave ring
while the four minutes buzz by i stand in a line to pour French coffee in a 99 cent styrofoam cup emblazoned green and orange
7 sugar cubes black steam rising like a genie woodsy cinnamon that melds with the patchouli on my skin
the oven dings me to attention
the burgundy corn rowed attendant girl smacks gum like cud while stirring safety orange colored cheese ooze in the sweaty container her name tag reads Patricia
across Broadway is the farmers market Feng Shuied on 4th over here honey the flowers over there by the old bank bookstore apples and grapes by the old merchants den
i think i’ll get some lilly blossoms
my brain begins to hum something by the Smith’s outloud
there is a millstone round my neck today
the pavement wet with northern rain and i like it’s sepia tinge
the thud sound of pea green goop hitting the ground alerts me
burrito down i wrap what’s left for dinner on Tuesday
the coffee lasts for as long as it takes me to cross the empty street
i slip on my mask one loop at a time behind my hair and ears
somebody’s hipster husband smiles at me
in a way the Crystal Healer wife might not have liked unless they both are swingers
the blue tooth hums blink three consecutive times and AC/DC attacks me
the final riff flows through my rickety bones and for the next selection i settle on Tchaikovsky

Ixchel’s children

bury me standing feet
rooted nowhere sleep eludes
me walking forever before
Cain’s sin gave rise
to grief that flows
my blood in history
am i not a
star child too nomad
in the mystery of
God like child in
birth to surf the
skies where serpents lay
in slumber this universe
was made for multiple
stars to shine at
smiles so bright that
return the favor blindly