Concerto for Last Days on Earth

The city was underwater - if it were alcohol, policemen and firemen would be off-duty
Was it whiskey that made you thirst, drug dealers out on bail unhinging bones from sockets

Breathe into me, breath of Cicero; call up a bartender’s decadent beauty at happy hour
Millennial masquerade - I have come to claim my right, this is the future, order to disorder

Unearth the vampires from your bosom, caked bats flinging from your nipples – is this desire
Do you cork the medicine bottle to keep me from suicide, insert image of a cello player in heat

Water pours, indeed it does, where it reaches a crescendo, I will find the ocean at war
Salute, fire once to approach, aim to kill; these ships have known many battles, adrift at sea

Sell me a concoction, a deadly dose of disillusionment – with your Irish accent let it be known
Wise whores street - selling their wares, half - hearted breasts, caramel – colored skin

We have come to cause a commotion, we have come to ridicule – this is the door to the basement
Husbands and wives do damage here- on water beds they prepare themselves for harassment

Message from sergeant to doctor – I’ve taken enough bullets, this is where I beg for forgiveness
Spread me evenly on a mattress, lay a hand on my forehead – he hears the voice of an operatic diva

Somewhere, a nightmare far away and near, night songs are written by apoplectic composers
Mob men hide explosives in walls of tenement housing soon to explode – will film credits roll

Will the junks embark on a threat or treat, sharpened incisors, bite the luncheon meat; draw blood
The color blood, paper white, stretched canvas for art’s sake, painting portraits of Richelieu

God-king, for all that I am, where do I bury my personas, now that I’m emerging, less psychological
Anthropological, I raise you a skeleton for flesh, cheers to that, perhaps a shot of camphor and codeine

Excess is all; fat bottomed shoes, disco dresses, whereas the nurses bring them in as they overdose
Clit to skin; cut cutting, severing ties with family, at day’s end they gather on bridges to march

Occupation, hurler of bricks, fire starter, bomb throwing truant, scattering when the sirens wail
Is this not the end, rather a beginning, a condition, an affliction which requires necessary attention

It is your homogeny; I come from a field of storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, sand dunes
Any river junction will welcome you, standing tall in your soldier suit, army green, no weapons needed

Go where the boys go, I have adoration for cabaret girls, star-lit, awe struck, counting pennies
At Broadway’s end, they peel off their clothes, walk barefoot onto stage and rehearse monologues

Time has come, indeed a time to form closure, operate on ourselves in the hot hours of our homes
In surgical masks we raise wine glasses, read from manuals - how to apply pressure to broken hearts

Bells will sound for emergency; EMT’s stand defibrillators in hand, preparing for conclusion to a scene
Two lovers climaxing – is it their bodies they’ll bring to ward, must they resuscitate them for tomorrow