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conspiracies of secretly bowling phrenologists, Ltd.
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Olean Upstate New York
at what should be the blue hour
but who knows with a freeway only 6 miles away
across the street a lone porchlight subsumes a large portion of the panoply of stars
Ursa Major dimly limping
darkness isn't with us much anymore
everywhere you turn there is another light
that supposed to offer us protection
to keep the night at bay
but what it does is rob us
of the darkness where we can let our imaginations run
to fill with fairy pageantry if we wish,
look over there,
across the field,
that glow
that we thought was another farmstead
is really the bridal feast of Caliban
and there sits Miranda and Prospero as honoured guests
at the same table with Oberon and mischievous Puck
but no, we choose to fill the night's darkness
with Manson families creepy crawling
and hooks found on car door handles
fog moves in...
how far sounds linger
recall when I lived in Washington
I rode a cow, a riceburner
so I was cognizant of the noise when I came home from work at 3am
and I would lie in bed with the windows open, on those summer nights
listening to the traffic stop at the street light about 3 blocks away
and I would especially notice the other motorcycles
I guess there was someone else who kept a schedule like mine because I would often hear him at that light
big throaty rumble, had to be a hog,
and he would take off on the green and I could just follow that sound for miles
take another toke, and lean into that curve with him
with the wind and moon in my face
shift
the panoply of stars again...
I recall a couple years back
I took my mother, and aunt and her granddaughter on a jaunt into San Antonio
little 8 year old queen had to have her Nelly Furtado, Britny, and Xtina
she pulled out my cd's , hated everything
except the Traci Lords
on the way back, dark now, very dark
she chanced to see a shooting star, her first I guess
so we pulled off on the side of the road near some ranch out there so she could count the stars, she was awed by them
but she wouldn't get out of the car because of the darkness,
so she sat through the car door window, in awe
until my aunt said we needed to get going
i expect someday she will be a great astronomer
"turn off the lights, turn off the lights"
