changing of the guards

daylight

with spots on a shadow

like the spoiled meat that

gives it legs

only to find me laying down on the same steps where

a marriage failed forty three years two months and sixteen days

ago

a child was told by an uncle that all things hurt

until they fade about twenty one days

ago

where a man will finally give it a go

by dying today

and tomorrow a couple will move in

with all the promise of another day

shining smiles

on this failed star

this not hot enough bundle of earth

that snuffs the flame eventually

where flat as latitude

i can still see all

the way to italy and paris

where someone is masturbating to pictures

of italian woman hairy and whole

in riyadh where the frozen food is labeled halal

by a boy who is neither muslim nor religious

just practical

quebec city

watching one of the last horses plow an impossible field

that kisses the horizon that leaves always

hawaii

with a female native

setting fire to a tourists bungalow

who didn’t know his family was hammocking on ancient grounds

after all

the brochure said the resort was only two years old

rated three stars

a good deal considering

a pakistani immigrant in poland inside a bar

enjoying a handful of pierogis in silent sloppy mouthfuls

a canadian ex-girlfriend who won’t remember having a boyfriend

giving birth to triplets

a chinese obstetrician who says they all look so beautiful

a eritrean nurse who agrees in a helpful nod

a triplet who doesn’t make it

a set of twins coming later to these same steps

where i lay

wondering why it smells like piss

and deciding ultimately

because of the paint peeling the wood waning the depression in the stairs

that could seriously stub a toe

not to rent the place

no matter how cheap

or how much the landlord

tells of its past clean good tenants