Garden of Poetry

Montage from a Madman’s Mind

 flashbacks in a supermarket line
smell of cottage cheese
moronic woman with a magazine
ornery usher in a movie theater
hey, asshole, leave the kid alone
drone of horseflies
spring melt at Willow Flats
squirrels dodging M-16 bullets
cobwebs in the fruit cellar
just get the hell out
move move move
Cambodian strip girl
harem dancers shaking
jingle of sacrament trays
breath of a drunken barfly
feel of dog shit between my toes
a look of rejection
passing face of a friend of a used lover
fat fish-seller with a maroon tub of mackerel
amusement at the foreigner
no front teeth
jade celadon run under an overloaded bus tire
the smell of Christmas eve
white-haired countenance of old man benevolence
angels singing on high
alleluia
glory be
from sea to shining sea
this is not my street
too far from home
just take the goddamn money
my hands don’t bend that way but fit together neatly
I SEE CLEARLY NOW
give
said the little stream
redneck farmer in a bad suit
and if I don’t hurt her she’ll do me no harm
ignorant suspicion
intercom from the principal’s office
the people’s party has found you guilty of treason
fold your arms, young man
reverently
quietly
torture is the mainstay of our diet in
paradise
I pledge allegiance to the flag
blow that trombone, band boy
dumb nigger can’t tie his combat boots
take your beating like a man
I didn’t break the fat man’s lights,
but I crushed his toilet in retribution
a scout is trustworthy
how many ways can I cheat on a merit badge
gum machine in a German train station
a hell of a roundhouse
I can kick the sky
there is no pain
the blisters have healed
good boy good dog
an Iranian girl with thick lips and a seductive gaze
musty scent of magazines under the bushes of a middle
school
not another peep out of you
peep
silent walk to the execution chamber
drive in the president’s car
to the end of the hall
the face of dark sarcasm
IMPORTANT MAN behind the desk
fuck you
Jesus wants me for a sunbeam
I’ve seen a head come off
like cow tongues in trays
singed dogs in a restaurant alley
you wake up in the morning at a quarter to five
and brush your teeth
just brush your teeth
if I had a gun, I would use it
now
stop the music
the moon is asymmetrical relative to the
porch rail

~ DANIEL F MITCHELL