carnival

look what we have here      and watch because
of light      floating wood      a carcass      this wooden boozer
or director
of river mud      river meat

it’s ours in an inkling
we insist on trying      the thrill of departing train
finger on wet plaster      it’s time      our eyes      keys
and across      the hall      a private bathroom      plus municipal parking lot
essential to smile and smile and again to smile
like a nail      beneath tarpaulin
the coffee cools      deem between monolith      fundy tides
stir the soul into      our decay      and skip the classics      boards pop
the night has no place in the world

and watch because      remaining walls      pavilion      sleigh
is shifting water      spark to dancefloor      thawing rodent      dusty slab
this is where      of when and skirmish now
our footprints seem      but distant lights that lead to nowhere
except      of course      this flounder house

 

 

 

 

Jane Ormerod’s books include Welcome to the Museum of Cattle and Recreational Vehicles on Fire (Three Rooms Press). Her work can be found in such publications as Mark Hawk Press Review, From Somewhere to Nowhere: The End of the American Dream, Paris Lit Up, Maintenant, POST(blank), and Sensitive Skin. She is a founding editor at great weather for MEDIA, an independent press focusing on edgy and experimental poetry and prose.

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