often it is the only
thing
between you and
impossibility.
no drink,

yes, they begin out in a willow, I
the starch mountains begin out in
and keep right on going without re
pumas and nectarines
somehow these mountains are like

there is always that space there
just before they get to us
that space
that fine relaxer
the breather

don’t undress my love
you might find a mannequin:
don’t undress the mannequin
you might find
my love.

this one teaches
that one lives with his mother
and that one is supported by a red
with the brain of a gnat.
this one takes speed and has been

I reached up into the top of the c
and took out a pair of blue pantie
and showed them to her and
asked “are these yours?”

majestic, majic
infinite
my little girl is
sun
on the carpet—

In the betting line the other
day
man behind me asked,
“are you Henry
Chinaski?”

the words have come and gone,
I sit ill.
the phone rings, the cats sleep.
Linda vacuums.
I am waiting to live,

little dark girl with
kind eyes
when it comes time to
use the knife
I won’t flinch and