I am Constantly Risking Absurdity

I am stealing a line and
constantly risking absurdity
by adding and multiplying in Latin script.
Breathing life into thoughts that
spark from the fireplace
up into the air
and then gone.

Or like the flashes of lightning bugs.
Yellow, in the corner of your eyes.

In over-expressive eyebrows
wrinkled forehead, and stone jawlines.
Imitations in the mirror
as I pull my hair into shape.

I am constantly risking absurdity
whether voice cracks
fingers fretting over the slides.
When each brushstroke is left obvious
sloppy and apparent
and the sentences run on and on
and on.

(The line was stolen from Ferlinghetti. Sorry, Larry)

Notary and Outcome and So and So

Seventeen years in the city
and he walks between the same cracks that echo
spray painting skeletons and santeria.
Revolutionary Debris.
The worst way to ask for
HELP
is to ask for
HELP
in the Spanish streets.
Scribbling studies of siphonaptera
below the billboards
and above the notary office
from wherever and wherever.