Light drags its feet
over the rippled rooftops
sheets of melted sand
painted iron poles
and rug fibers of
grease-stained stairs
an owl's mask on the face
of a naked man.

Lopped-off tops of pine trees
tangled in lightning-stuck wire
skeletons berserk for hot bulbs
yanking veils across a crescent moon.
A gash in the earth
that oozes paper grids
through a clearing of grey animal jelly.
Ax head landing on the target skull
prepared with wax
the forks of a thriving tree
driven up from a rotting belly
and its web of seeds.

Eggshell lanterns
the rust of long steel bones
a hilltop's bleeding paint can pyramid
cracking toothy lids.