of your colleague Joan

so they’ll be struck in the night

en route home.

I rubbed my eyes from the sting
and brushed the ashes off my shirt.
I breathed out fumes
and soon my head lost its’ weight.

A week later I was good
I ‘d burnt the tabak every night
It was easy now
I knew what to expect:

Where the smoke would blow
and how I could get it there
My options opened up
I saw the bar and within it the maze.

and late at night
with the water running
I take a piss in there

It flew off at top speed like a halogen meteor
in the orange darkness down Boulevard Clichy.

So much indoor sex I was thinking,
such an awful lot of neon.

my dog foxy no longer chases forest shrews

hanna gets lazy, molly moves on

merdle just goes on working

mr. rain sells the bulldozer

dr.huff retires

lance fly fishes full-time

the potatoes flood across the lake

marline looses her mind completely

beavers clog the outlet again

someone finds marijuana on the island

the government declares the swamp protected

(mr. rittens old vegetable garden)

jack elliots pony escaped

(got trapped on the front porch)

lyles boat got stolen

rainbow air went out of business

paulas dogs keep on barking

(a falcon ate her goose)

our rabbit went blind

tillies hind legs begin to fail

new regulations shut down the slaughter house

the riding ring is over grown

hot water bill bought some hogs

brent bought an old leaky boat

the cabin on the point has carpenter ants

sheila and mick are feuding over the driveway

dick zuiderzee has got alzheimers

the longs dock was lost in a storm

williams chimney caught fire

Oysters work to keep their egg shells strong
and once-in-a-while we find a double yolk
(down the end of the drive they sell for $2 a dozen)

Good and hardy and sturdy
from the heart of New England
and quick work of compost

Keep a keen eye out for falcons
and put golf balls in the nests
while they’re young

Sometimes clean out the coop
and transport in the dark

I wait for her
on top of Champagne Hill
forecasting winter
by fire