Happy Belated Birthday

your veins

glow curvaceous and mean

under thin skin

clogged with neon.

bones of electrocuted cartoons

rise

en route to the sacred

sky machine
pinball quarters
cherry stem knots

blink and ding intestinal pink
high score
broadcast in minty green digi-teen

gum goes black on asphalt,

trash trucked out on Tuesdays

Nothing new takes decades to

percolate through layers of modern waste.
the freedom is just as terrifying as 

mold 
on the dishes in the sink.

grandma's house

died when 

you moved in.

she moved on 
to

Blue Skies via 

Otis Spunkmeyer in the lobby  and 

Complimentary Muzak

There is an

un-shave-able waddle of flesh

underneath my chin.

I imagine you, enraptured

by

bedroom musk and my

regressive views,

latching on
champing down
Matamoros bridgework be damned,  

pit bull bitch

coming of age

corn syrup falls,

installed 
when that kinda thing was in,

Nar-co-ti-cize

time

my metaphorical book of deep wisdom,

my unanswered question

one hand hipped

one browed

in defiance of the South Texas sun

burglar bars threaten to burn me alive

tentacled within these sheets

where your legs once governed

the sum of your memory

my lopsided cake

3 candles short

11 days late