GERMS

Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Somewhere spawns a germ.
Tulsa nights,
late July..or August
Bright
Today's undying fire
continues to radiate dry
from every inch of this
concrete island.
Somewhere around 4:00 a.m.
the sidewalk steam ascends.
And a cool, slight breeze
fingers his parched
sticky hair.

North Tulsa; Dead-Dry
A young child drifts lonely,
nowhere to go.
Nothing to do but wander
aimless among the germs.
...A sleepless, hot
sidewalk night.
6:00 a.m. or so,
morning breaks, and
the fire again is ignited.
Clothes melt with skin
and eyes grow heavy with
thoughts of escape.
One thousand miles away
a mother's arms
feel welcome.
Noise begins to corrupt the
infected ruins, and
visual heat disrupts the
lines of parallel reality.
His sense of realism gone
to motion.

Over & Over again he chimes
inside his eggshell mind;
"tetanus shots and
army cots and junkmail slots
and virgin thoughts are all
the same if you've
ever been a
germ".

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