perhaps at the mercy of something else

10/15/05

a diagram in the schematic and the instructions
for its lubrication
are what she gave to me that night
when she bared her breasts
and showed me in the moonlight a world that sent
my mind to the gods so softly that hover over
this sick machine
that bleeps and squaks and squeals
like dry boxcar wheels
as the conductor slams the brakes when his body falls upon
the lever
a heart attack at forty-five, rose-red whiskey cheeks
and two little boys at home…

but much to my disappointment her
manual doesn’t apply anymore
at least not when her shirt’s back on
and she’s again run out the door