LUCY VAN #3: Another Sky

Artwork by Chris Gooch

Draino:

They would never stop peeping for

blocked drains to ignite and smoke out

and never stop crouching cupboard ajar to look at

the lens-flare in the s-bend

 

Another sky with smoke

As we match the rolling beetles to

the right words and march to the horizon        we: a

barbershop couplet

Before we say ‘flames’

Before we say ‘run’

We: reach for the thesaurus

Don’t go/Don’t say you’re bored!

It’s really heating up now (boredom our contour

our cartography)

Heavy weather!

As this earth becomes

Another star/some titan’s proposition

 

We used to do this on purpose

red belly hips and popping

serotiny; But now it happens only

by accident by which is meant

when something goes wrong

 

How do you like events?

How do events find the right words?

Talking to you is like birds: shaking leaves and swooping territory

Talking to you is like weather

Unpredictable but always lousy

shit town anyway/ I said I love this place—I always said

Anyway, the tabloid out of date—

the only issues we find

Are my manual work, and I can show you, firebug

There are so many dirty sheets

 

I think we should throw them into this fire

We could watch from our imported rock

Burning to tell you oh! something

Another sky is keeping secrets

A no-comment sky/every word we said seemed really/at the

You show me stretched clouds/

They said: love this place/that’s smoke/that’s the s-bend