Chipped Fangs

numb fingers.
chipped fangs.
sewer mold skull
of a wilting
old soul.

I share my
maggots with the
heatwave
dropouts.
The up and comers
of the down and out scene.
The impulse buyers
of the
back-against-the wall
blackmarket supermall.
The fiends,
scarecrows,
dingy barbedwire parking lot prophets.
Break Bread.
Drag your toes
Daddy's gonna buy you diamonds.

One day we get our place on the map
but we'll have to win this crippled man's war.


I was baptized
in crude oil
just a couple of
days after
the house burnt down.

We were there.
We were kids
in the streets
with
the red glow
of ambulance
and police car strobes
prying our eyes open.

'Goodbye bed.
Goodbye mom's secret pill stash.
Sleep tight my pets,
my malnourished friends.'

It wasn't hard to swallow.
I knew at a young age
how little you really need
to get by.
One of the few things
I still carry with me.