XXX

Woke, later than I like, but didn’t want 

To get out of bed.  I gave in, at last, 

Got up, showered, listened to NPR,

Ate oatmeal and toast.  I rode down to Mill 

Ave, past Sun Devil Stadium reeking 

Of stuporbawl, long hours perfecting golf 

Swings, dense pockets of loose change that trigger

Large scale human migrations—but not all 

Was well in utopia: the muffins 

Were stale, bread hard to find, milk, eggs and cheese 

Virtually indistinguishable 

From their toxic synthetic substitutes.

Word was out: buy now, pay later, belly 

Up to the trough, plunge in up to your neck!

Time’s awasting, stop your lollygagging!

Nothing’s more vital than the supperbowl!

(Except corporate hospitality 

Suites, frenzied productive exchanges, and

Porcine replacements for human organ 

Deficiencies.)  After all, interim 

Legislation backed irretrievable 

Indeterminacy for immigrants,

As they refuse to contribute to the 

Multinational malaise, or sustain 

The expansion of production into 

New markets with built in redundancy.

Not a game, but opportunity to

Maximize brand recognition, product 

Dissemination.  Feed on.  I am so 

Happy in this industrial waste bland.  

Deep behind South Mountain sun sets, sky like 

Water stained by gasoline.  Across the 

Eight wide, six wide lanes of pavement, hundreds,

Thousands, of cars hurtle and zoom with no 

Where to go, and high above XXX

Hangs, marking the spot where bluish coughs of 

Smoke rise up towards blimps as they circle

The suckbasin.  Airplanes plunge and climb just

Overhead Papago Park, only just 

Louder than the freeway’s ceaseless rumble, 

Hum and drone.  (Always on, never off.)  There—

Where redwing blackbirds fly low, skim red rocks 

Home to roost in reeds, the margins and cracks,

Where tiny red and black ants live amid 

Shards of ancient pottery, rubbish and 

Refuse of those people here before us,

Former geographies now under ours, 

Displaced proof we are only visitors,

That our maps deface, while nature adjusts

And accommodates all things, patiently 

Survives—at the interstice, there find life.