hard facts

across the tracks
other side of night
the emporium deals
in hard facts
but you want to
buy fantasies
from the shopkeeper's daughter
she's pregnant again
a little pudgy
she's generous
and listens to your dreams
accepting payment only
in cold hard cash

data

your mind program implanted
in consciousness
unrolls with the creaky precision
of a player piano
an antique tinkling music box

pale green corduroy shirt missing
one button, two buttons
the wale unravels
warp and weft shine through
revealing original patterns

is it your memory or that
of countless stars
your genome or your mother's
back on the farm
wagonwheels frozen in muddy ruts
out to the back pasture

morning these chains

morning these chains old lives
caress you again

a footprint in neatly raked asphalt
the old tar pits

now you are on the West Coast
flying to Japan
with a girl who says she loves you
but her moods are not your moods

now you are in the Midwest
flying to hell
the farmer's mad, your tablemate is crazy
whereas you are only
deeply depressed

now you are in the Hamptons in the lap
of improbable luxury
with a Chinese girl who wants you to fuck her
on the beach
you oblige

morning these chains old lives
but the air is pure, the maples are
deep red
and times have changed