# 55 Open Book

Things tend to linger
rather than disappear
but it's not an enigma,
it’s an open book
It has the same
effect on the brain
as balloons and artificial owls
I imagined a playground
and being pushed around
it’s time I told you
about the family business

we produced much with nothing
built huge earthworks
then partied for years at a time
we did nothing in moderation
didn’t have to be careful
with our mechanical minds
exposing them to people
So we could share the feeling
then put it all in a film

# 54 Victorian Nature

In a shaded forest
It was the end of the first fifth
tight with the greenest greens
we approached the river
and walked along the edge
she suddenly pushed away
peering through hidden leaves
my own face looking back at me
Laden with our Victorian nature
we had just kissed
Scaring birds with our human voices
you are safe with me
Chloroformed moths inside a box
Thousands of glass slides
cataloging each emotion
something stirred inside me
Pinning a beetle to a bark
pushed away by my love

# 53 Emotional Shopping

Stop pulling your tabs
opening countless windows
Individuals and habits
finishing our lunch
finishing your life
The reinforcement loop
changing the patterns
saying ummm and ahhh
from person to person
rewriting the code
behavior to behavior
forgetting to shave
the way it activates
a framework for understanding
the psychological relief
yields easily to analysis
speaking with your mouth full
more complex and obstinate
emotional shopping
change is a process
pair it with electric shock
that never fully concludes

# 52 Carried Home

Very few, except for some -
When the scout returns home -
what will readily be agreed -
with a terminal sighting -
that marry age is honorable -
prepare the raiding party -
being ordained by heaven -
the overlying mud -
without which no man -
nipping off their limbs -
in an honest capacity -
performed a swift triage -
to yield obedience -
capturing remarkable footage -
the first law of the meadow -
and the second law of thermodynamics -
lose only a single leg -
increase and multiply -
they can no longer stand it -
young people desire it so badly -
they were picked up and carried home -
these mutual embraces -
rarely without casualties

# 51 Apologetic Warfare

Cats make good Pets -
What has already happened is not happening now -
The cat sleeps on the couch with me -
What has not yet happened is not happening now -
My Mother didn't allow cats or dogs as pets -
What is now happening has not already happened -
She did allow fish -
Nor has it not yet happened -
The fish lived in a bowl -
Doesn't this mean that anything can happen?