by Mitchell Krockmalnik Grabois
samples from
The arrest of mr. kissy face
Pesticide
After a struggle
they took me from my farm
Farmers always fight
to stay on their land
Weather, banks
and the nuthouse
are three of our biggest threats
And bugs of course
I filled my suitcase
with my special blend of
DDT and Arsenic
It had always worked for me before
but they yelled at me
and took my case
and put it in the attic
They said they’d give it back when I left
but I knew they would never let me out
In the meantime
the power of my pesticide
did secret battle
with my enemies
Ansel
Ansel Adams awoke in a black and white room
He’d bled the world of color
as effectively as a 1947 Zenith console TV
He’d fallen asleep on the couch
and when he opened his eyes
the screen was static
pulsating flecks of Yosemite
Noise was white
His wife had fallen asleep
on the other side of the couch
wearing a white apron
tied tightly around her
Midwestern middle
His black and white cat
rubbed against his legs
When images become inadequate
I shall be content with silence
he said to the cat
Outside
a city bus rumbled by
accelerating loudly to make the hill
Seaside
Wind rustles the sea oats
Waves lap the cottage’s stilts
You touch my foot with your tentative foot
Your extremities are always cold
On his shadowed throne our baby squalls a warning
I face him
my smile radium
You take books on the Holocaust from my shelf
and throw them into the surf
A blue crab scuttles across the sand
I want to smear the cosmetics
from your face