What I'm Talking About When I Talk About Ghostbusting

Mid-Canadian Ice is talking to Uncle
He is making sense of it
And speaking back,
'Yes, this ain't good but it's OK'.
Sharing life affirming stories about dogging.
He is making you think of the base burns of your first
Girl,

Lucy.
Uncle just got turned down by a hotter version of her
And now you can't ever marry Lucy
Because you know a hotter version of her exists
In Middle Canada
And she settled for a bassist,
A black man
Who now plays the drum and smiled at me.
Uncle is asking what kind of white man are you
'The best kind, Sir, the kind after ten of his Master's best'.

These pooling bruises back to back at an Stateside apartment
After they've stopped bear baiting the subway with heat
And Uncle is a voice and an open door, calling out
'So rarely do I need to say this
But I will bring you down to all fours, love'

CK

We Are The Prophets

Godspeed
Godspeed

Sparking visions leaving the Bloor street dive bars
As there is something in this Jesus
Being said in Unison
While the house band plays
Today's random act of kindness was clapping at the gig

Godspeed
Godspeed

CK

The Shaping Of The Bishop's Head And House

He squeezed the curtains together
Not to see the buildings
Or the people inside
said to enjoy it

Going to the coffee shop
Behind his newspaper
Haggling a pawn
A blacken black stogie
And inch measured anxiety

Little hands of horse lips
Gripping the city streets
Blinkers keep the city moving
For traveling with these blinkers

Making you think that only Vienna is sick with the illness
Of a travelling circus and the suicide squad

CK

Barred

Parting
No empty
In hand.

Found
Off and often
Ago.

I suppose
I should lie down.
Now.


When
It's just the three
Of ye.

Not found
Nor brought back
To frame.

Don't
Tell my mother
Lads...

I know
She will just get
Upset.

CK

'Shut Up And Eat Your Beans, You Bastard'

That whole homeless thing becomes
Some slow forming affair
Reminding me not all good things are said in English

'Fuck Ramadan'
Bottle opening teeth
'I'm a Catholic, Allah is not my God, not my King'
Repeated a prayer for the rain to stop two days ago so he knows, because it did in fairness

'My friend...'
Takes off his hat
'Would swear by the fish.. ah..ing in Ireland'
Presenting precise grass in a precise case

'I piss, I roll'
Pointing where
'The police say what are you doing
I say nothing...

They come back later they ask what am I doing
I say nothing more'
We share another beer and leave

CK

Fragment #68

Do what you do, we'll
Keep running the linen up
And down the highway

CK

Spanish Fall

I Have Walked Home In The Rain
For The First Time
And Now I Have Remembered Spain
For The First Time

It Wasn't Making Sense When Lit With The Lightening
That Can Only Happen On Vacation
And The Locals Do Not Notice
The Steaming Of Milk
The Folding Of Shirts
How Could I Live Here

I'd Only Cry Once Before A Vespa
Crushes My Foot
And I Start Over In That Driver's Image
"I Find It Hard To Remember
What I Did With My Time Before I Met You"

Drenched With A Burning Smell Of Pines As Spring Commences
For The Twenty-Second Time
The Smell Of People Living Behind The Easily Scaled Council Fences
For The Twenty-Second Time

These Rainstorms Have Split My Family Elsewhere
In Barcelona I Took A Picture Of My Father Smiling
In Other Places People Would Just Smoke Out The Hotel Window
And My Sister Got Sick Outside An IHop
And There Is The Existence Of American Girls Who Only Makeout To Gospel Radio
None Of Them Girls Smelling Like Those Small Easy Peel Oranges
Which She Hung Off Our Christmas Trees

CK

"Super Margaret!"

In The Aisle You're Likely To Find Lightblubs
A Woman And Another Woman
Giving Her A Hug Like She No Longer Had Cancer

CK

Shark Oil

Handshakes
Like
Fishbones
Crushed
Upon A
Side Plate

CK

Found Vein

A Guy Wrote This Down
In The Toilet
Especially For Me

'42 France'

Or

'Go To France'

Doesn't He Know
About My Summer
In Bordeaux

CK

Stamen #1

I Don't Want To Know It's Medicine
Or Make Themed Pre-drinks
And Dress Up Like A Fag
Who Ends Up Tasting Beer Breath
And Aches Stomachs.

"Plastic Mask...
A Manter?... A Maneater
With Antlers...
Anther?
When Is Halloween?"

Smelling Like A Rubber Holiday,
There's Even Lipped Coins Lying In Toilet Water
Wishing A Nose To Spite.
He Ran Out Of Air Tonguing It
And I Forced Myself To Get Sick Outside The Club.

CK

Hive

I Am Dribbling Out My Mouth
Legs First
Like A Centipede Or Something

Telling People They've Cancer
Tasting It
When They Know They Don't

Making Them Insects Again
Only Red
And Human On The Inside

We Ain't Good At Goodbyes
Or Welcomes
But We Sometimes Talk In Between

CK

Time Article 74'

I Know Not Everyone Gets A Funeral
Some Just Get Mentioned At Wedding Afters

As If They Are Leaving For Vietnam
Like That G.I. Who Fucked My Mother While I Slept In The Room

CK

The Townspeople

The First Of The Rolling Blackouts
Rises Floral Print Napkins To Mouths
And The Dog Steps In Its Own Shit

They've Clotted Rivers In The Pre-Dawn Dark
And In Hunger, Swallowed The Sun
So Guess Where It Rises

CK

Gerry

The Other Would Recoil
And That Almost Makes It Ok That It's Now Gone From The Passager Seat
The New One Doesn't Do That.

One Hand On The Wheel And The Dog Warden Is Called Tom
And Tom Lied
I'm Calling This Bitch Tom Even If The Guy At The Puppy Farm Said Not To.

CK

I'm The Cool New Female Bassist For The Coral

Dragger Of Ocean
Noise, I'm Your Sightseer
An Empty Can Of Coke You Place Up To My Ear
'I Can Hear The Coral Playing My Name As Part Of The Promotion'
'The Coral Don't Make Noise'
Not Anymore, They Disband
With One Of Us To A Wing And A Gut Of Sand
Ending Like Wuthering Heights, Catherine's Pussy Got Destroyed
Or Was That Persuasion, I Don't Remember
A Trawler Scoops Me With Heathcliff And His Whole Affair
He Keeps Mentioning The Mainland And How We Are Famous There
But I Don't Want To Live Together
I'm Already Bigger Than Seven Elizabeth Taylors
And I'll Marry The First Man To Rescue Me From These Sailors

CK

The Final Solution

S.B. Emma
You Are All We Have Ever Known
Like The Spine Cracks Of Mein Kampf
No One Ever Takes You Home

CK

Post Office Clerk

I Have Seen You Shrink Once

And I Had To Turn Away

Arms Draped In Wax And Wood 

Wanted You To Live In The Light

Leaving Your Bones And Bits

By The Motor Factors To Be Changed

In The Burnt Out Districts Of His Head

CK

Magaluf

I'm The Redness Of My Finger Zipping Up That Purple Jumpsuit 

He Unzipped It With The Peak Of My Years

My Best Friend Kissing Us Is The Best Part Of This Nightmare

CK

Overused

Nightshifted.

Richard Fucks Her
And Richard Puts His Clothes Back On.

You Duck Arsed Cigarette.
You Mass Wake Up Call.
You Are Wet On The Bottom.

Often Avoided Words
'Heart' And 'Pale Light'
Writing Letters
Failing To Find A Substitute For Love.

Now You Are The Distance Of The Moon
No Matter Where I Am Standing
Twisting Out Of Arms
Leaving When Only Me And The Go-Go Dancers Go-Go Home.
There's Leaving Even If I Stood Upon The Laces Of Your Boot.

CK

Neoclassic

Say Apothecary Means Many Things
And Tell Us Where It Hurts,
And We'll Bring Forward August's Sawdust.

Your Body Left The Forum Still Roaring
And Drifted In To The Intersection
Until The Morning Traffic Changed Direction.

CK

What Think Ye Of Christ

Jeans Still Belt His Legs, Together
We Don't Care About The Kind
Of Matthew's Kisses

Once It Stops The Mentioning Of Older Men
Who Couldn't Even Write
And Who Fucked Each Other All The Time

CK

The Strange Fruit Of The Estate

Hung.
On And Under A White Light.
The Plastic Of The Orange Cover Was In Pieces By The Verge.

One Black Trainer
Stood Sole Upon The Ground.
A Tree Lay Bare Off To The Side And Closer To The Ground.

A Drunken Man
In A Tailored Waistcoat Seen Him First.
The Drunken Man Patted For A Misplaced Cell And Walked Off.

Two Schoolboys
Of A Shared Age Stared A Number Of Minutes  
Then Rocked The Streetlight Before Leaving With A Trainer .

The Other Black Trainer
Unlaced But Feet Had Swollen With Unpumped Blood
One Schoolboy Was Black And His Parents Had A Book With This Picture.

The Station Chief
Used Nail Scissors To Cut Cable Ties
And Let The Tangled Cords Of Electrics Remain For Days

The Detective
Noticed The Numbers 'Six' And Then 'Seven' And...
Nobody Knew What Came After That, All Written In Chalk.

The Drunken Man
Sobered Weeks Later, Returned As Reported
And On Hands And Knees Ran His Fingers Through The Grass.

Two Oranges Pieces
Of Plastic Were Picked Up And He Placed One In Each Eye.
He Looked Up To The Streetlight And Was Hit With A Black Trainer In The Face.

CK

I Named Canopus Before You

Mistook Sirius,
In The Way Of The Night
It's What We Look At
When We Look Up

Tethered
In Our Movements
We Know These Not The Motions
Of Ordinary Love

CK

Lily Put Me Here

Her Fifty Hands On Me And I Am Spoonfed Rocks
Until My Stomach Is Too Heavy
For The Sea

I Nosedive
To The Bottom Of The Ocean
For I See It's Much Bigger From The Underside

CK

Gateway

And Fireworks Shot From My Head
Emptying My Stomach.

I Want To Try Mescaline At Least Once
And Lie Out In The Desert Heat

To Top Out These Twenty One Years
With My Head On My Lap

CK

Not Better... Different

I Have To Be Pointed Towards The Toilet

At Different Hours Of The Night

Swayed Like Couples Hands

That Bang Upon Windows

Claiming Worth Over Others

Slabbed Upon A Cab Door

Like An Animal You Refuse To Eat

A Fare There And Back Preys My Mind

CK

I Love Her In Spite Of Her Millions

I Guess I Should  Mention That I Might Have Known Her
And Loved Her For Most Of That Time

Pulling Her Flowers
By Their Heads And Milk Stains
On The Outside Of Her Door,
I'm Driving A Car For The First Time

But Even Before This
It Was Hard Coming To Bed In A One Room Apartment

You Wearing Your 'Vintage' Sleep Mask
Knowing Its Me
Rattling Ice On Glass To Rise You,
Petite Bourgeoisie

And You Say Stop With The Big Words
You Are Trying To Sleep

CK

You Are Bubblegum/Something To Chew On

I Speak To Her Like Some Rock Bottom Feeder,
Spending Blister Packs
Faster Than Anyone I Know
Or Have Known

You Mass Of Color,
You Friend Of Friends And
Moving Limbs,
The Makings Of Tree Rings

I'm High Enough To Forget
Both Your Name
And That I Have Already
Asked It

And Whispers Reply All The Same
'Don't Treat Me
Like The Wind, Treat Me Like
The Sky'

CK

Foundation

Fucking Like Animals,
Drinking Rainwater As Bones Break
Parapets
And Crack The
Bedrock

And Hands Choke The Soil
And Tore, Our Child
Alive
For The First Time
Debased.

What Do We Do Next But
Displace
And
Replace
The Dirt Of His Opening Eyes.

CK

Last Orders

The Last Funeral Party
I Have To Organize
And This Party Is Near Over.
A Flash Bulb Like On Father's Leica
And I'm Sure That Doesn't Exist.

For The Road,
Generously Poured
By The Last Man I've To See.

I'll Call It A Night
When It Gets Dark In Here
And Then,
And Only Then Can I Realise There Was Something
I Forgot To Say.

CK