naked and filthy
new flies unfurling
their iridescent wings
flicking to flight
in the green heat
stars catching all the hate
in her flat black eyes
her mouth is empty
soil where her tongue
once settle against her teeth
they call this place
Dead City
The Axe Handle Burroughs
Blood Smear Avenue
12 Gauge Park
hey, down here
we got this thing
called the psychopathic checklist
you score high
and you got a job for life
with the city council
hope you like the taste of
gun oil and brass
the ditch just outside
the fences
final resting place
the belt still tight
against strained muscles
Petechiae smiles
and knife wound kisses
they named her
the Ditch Water Bride
never able to close her eyes
with her eyelids all gone
Yeah, down here in Dead City
babes in the woods
are a common site
and shotguns
grow like weeds
buried in the forest
wrapped in burlap fertilizer
they sprout up
if you know where to dig
lily bones
decorate the bridges
down here
never mind the names
feet wash up on the beaches
rotted and stinking
children play with them
like footballs
the ghosts chatter
in the distant hills
spitting their indifference
down to the Native villages
our murderous ancestors
thought were theirs to take
brains on the railway tracks
two bodies for the price of one
facts and lies
are all the same around here
that sound you hear
that's the sound of the L train
going straight to Hell
yeah, down here
God has crooked teeth
and chews on raw bone sinew
red streaks in the pavement
we call meat love
and we all know the dark places to avoid
we don't want no tourists around here
so go on to your safe little homes
and shut your eyes tight
behind your gated communities
and white bread security raids
go on, pretend everything is all right
down here in Dead City
there's a skull-cracking good time to be had
and the Devil
let's us know he's still around
he's got that big old grin
and when his mouth falls open
terror seeps into the world
and all us murderers and thieves
we know we still got a place
to call Home
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