we ditch the snow-caked grand canyon / like a cigarette butt flicked aside / our windburnt skin / still smolderin’ / with the might-as-well-be-waterless crevice / outta sight / outta mind / no view
in the rearview / this wooly mammoth landmark / this gaping geological yawn / discernible only
up close / a hidden horizon otherwise / hunkerin’ down below / more submerged than hemingway’s iceberg theory / & okay, yes / that is the canyon concept / mind the gap / it’s wild / the ease with which / it all disappears / but hey / that’s perspective / we leave it like we found it / well, okay, we try / which oughta count for something // right? // there was one teeny tiny
incident though / (more on that later) / we wave goodbye to the cult-recruitin’ gusts / wind so persistent / it’ll pull you in & rob you blind / strip you of what little you had / what little you
dared to carry / wind buff enough it’ll / thrust that car door right outta your grasp / & right into
the side of some new yorkers’ suv / slam dunked it / ~whoomp! there it is~ / *whoops / i swear i swear / i meant to say whoops / this is no laughing matter / wind like that don’t give you no time
to react / no time to know / but no one’s talkin’ ‘bout / all these casualties / ain’t no first aid out here / in this prehistoric flintstones wilderness / there oughta be a sign / warning all visitors / “treat your belongings like a newborn” / (well, like the kid you wanted, anyway) / & hang on
tight baby! / surely / i can’t be the only one who left a ding / ding goes the song / at christmastime, i bet / the place echoes “carol of the bells” / a claymation christmas celebration edition / with the one perfectly timed dud / which infuriates / the quasimodo maestro / but you can’t stop these touristy automobiles / from tradin’ paint left & right / a bunch of parking lot playmates / diggin’ their nails into each other’s shiny splendid skin / & who can blame ‘em? / mmm glossy aluminum / maybe that’s just the price you pay / hell / i’m convinced the whole
door woulda snapped / right off those slushy cardboard hinges / if i hadn’t been holdin’ on /
damn thing was like a witch reborn—just so psyched to fly / the sky / so pumped to become / a creature of the night / once more / & yeah / the ravens saw it all / with their wise judgy eyes / snickering from their ponderosa pine perches / with their back-of-the-throat croaks / all as if to say / you idiot / you have to hold on here.
Fiction - ISSUE #28