from 'Silicon Valley of the Shadow of Death'
I.
iAdded baby teeth to the abacus now we can keep count of the drone dead
iBroke the bread of atoms in the air saying Take this all of you and eat of it
iCrossed the Mississippi with an envelope stuffed full of one very long black hair
iDied four years ago but you can still like me on Facebook
iExorcised the demon out of the girl and would take nothing but a glass of tap water
iFished for nine days and caught nothing but the back of my skull
iGave my other coat to my corpse because he was cold
iHad drinks with the new partner yesterday wonderful man
iIntroduced myself to the pianist afterwards he nearly crushed my hand
iJustified it then but now I’m older my grandson shrieks whenever I touch him
iKilled the song just to see the beautiful girls cry out and stop dancing
iLived so long ago a man still came by evenings to sharpen our knives
iMeant what I said about angels last night I was drunk but not that drunk
iNeed to go back to where I came from to the original source and spring
iOffered to give my sister money after the divorce but she insists she’s doing fine
iPiled the buffalo skulls up five dollars an hour for the photographer from Philly
iQuite liked the play actually but found the stabbing melodramatic
iRan the Tilt-O-Whirl at the Illinois State Fair vomit and I are well acquainted
iSaid I can’t remember the last time we took a day trip honey
iTotally understand if you can’t make it to my birthday it was so long ago now
iUnderwent grave trials in my late twenties but emerged with renewed faith
iVanished into the Sierras with a shotgun and a ring of bone
iWandered into the funeral by mistake and outwept the widow
iXpected you to arrive later but please do come in
iYawned then he yawned and that was sort of the end of that
iZoomed up there real quick and I think we should be ok for Tuesday