3 Years After the Eruption

Three years after the eruption
Things ash brown gray and black
Temperamental mothers, fathers, smiling through
Age lost in a free mind full of home, houses
Expert witness and a lynch mob, triumphant!
Stock footage strewn across the cutting room floor
Tropical steam room lunches, free lunch!
Tender moment a boy and his dog burying the bone
Lost and found sensibilities trading post deadlines
Square pegs in square holes don’t fit
Batteries weak or dead picture too light, overexposed
Harvard doctors link liquor to sex, brilliant!
Textbook deliveries now run on time
The little brown box full of prizes, toys
Four light squares illuminate rooms, blinds drawn
Two chairs set in stereo
Left, right, a common bond
Red felt white pages
A government listing
Who’s been left out?
Friends? family? sex?
Four legs in a bucket standing at the door
One upon three upon seven
Plastic container
Sun-stained memories
Fresh eyes, greet them!
Turn it down!
It’s 3 PM, the dogs are sleeping!
Chorus variations up to speed fake wood
Tin sheets blanket frozen mountains
While other children play fetch and darts
Dinner plates thrown across thirty tables
Napkins, spoons, forks
No knives!
Pin-striped leopards in man-skin suits
Open doors for ladies and their loves
It is never winter here
It is never summer there
It is never winter here
It is never summer there