Brandon Shane September 2024
Rain is never more beautiful, than within the violence
of a great city, the water washing over petrol, chemicals,
bodily fluids of men subdued by their vices, then the hail
smashes windows and dents enough windows, hoods,
that we scurry them under little things, as our minds
grace the larger picture; the splatter of a thousand
languages and spices, born from fire and conflict,
or fleeing from a totalitarian; historical missions
on hills mourning their ugly beginnings, baptized
again and again by tears of sinners who only know
their monstrous hands. I kick glass, as the city rots
and my toes have become numb, stomach bloody
with enough ulcers to put Bukowski away for good.
Throwing away pills, then finding them again
in early morning desperation, like little birds
finally having a chance, away from the bullies
with sharp beaks and large feathery stomachs,
and I trip over concrete, hit my mouth, it bleeds;
why do I feel this pain, why is everything so damn
painful; all the holy books getting off on a mother
with bunk beds but no children.
I returned home for my father's funeral,
in the rain again, this time there were trees,
and they formed walls, a business sector,
an industry, flowers created markets,
shrubs did their part; there were pigs, cows,
and even a dog that protected them
from coyotes dancing in the brush,
the crows were too intelligent for this,
and so they talked from high places;
In the will he gave me some land
and ownership is a brick, bills are debris,
expectation a sea placed
underneath your heavy feet.
I shoved my toes into the mud,
watched fireflies go in and out of a ditch,
saw the sky churning like a stomachache,
listened to frogs, retreated
to a porch and heard the old wood
bend; the world is beyond agony
but tonight, like a bad boxer with teeth
lodged into his throat, I sat quietly
watched the moon like a horse
having broken his hooves,
waiting for the tin roof to fall on my head.
Brandon Shane is a poet and horticulturist, born in Yokosuka Japan. You can see his work in the Argyle Literary Magazine, Berlin Literary Review, Acropolis Journal, Grim & Gilded, Heimat Review, York Literary Review, The Mersey Review, Prairie Home Magazine, among many others. He would later graduate from Cal State Long Beach.
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