he wears an eyepatch

pretty fuckin’ obvious

lent itself to questions

its not like when meetin someonelookin em in the face it can be avoided     

now they may not askgood manners  but yasee the question roiling in their eyes like a viscouscrazed lava lamp  how nice to have two eyes 

                       he remembered                               

butstill he hasnt met someone who also wears a patch 

if an eye is a prosthetic he wouldnt look close enough to notice 

                                                                  unless they were a woman  then hed see realquick 

he pointed to his right eye with his right index fingerwhy not take obvious to the edge

                                                                                               You curious bout this 

note he left it to curious  good manners are left off the hook 

FUCK 

      hed be curious

I am.

When I tellya youll never forget

Never?

Not ever 

          Youll be the hit of every cocktail party you ever attend

What happened? asked guiltlessly which he intended

After being incapacitated a wing gone awry wha I could do was feed hummingbirds  Healedup I did it for years until a fire ran me out of my apartment

At the new place I started again immediately

I literally groomed a flockbetter than three dozen at six different feeders woud go out into them around dusk when they were frenzied at their most hectic freakydivine I was lashed by their wingwash deafened by their sharp clickin 

A male bullrushed mecame right up to my face itd happened lotsa times before an eye to eye moment he tipped his head to one side like a cockerspaniel  but this jamoke mistook my assumption my guess mistook my iris as a port a queer beeguard an jabbed its bill in deepreared jabbed again  got a mouth full of aqueous humor funnyhuh didnt see if he spat  didnt return for more 

Headlight out 

Nothing the physician coud do 

An oops

1800,  Thursday,  18  8. 22

342preferred,  Twosday,  23  8. 22

turning onto his rightside he found the spotTha spot which eluded him after he woke during the night and casting back into sleep found episodesnot the hard sleep that cracked him on the jawput him down for the count 

                                                                                                         finding it was a delight  he truly wanted to go to sleephe wanted Now I lay me down to sleep  be laid to rest  but then he thought Thas why you aint being buried  hed be leaving himself to be laid to rest but couldnt depend upon someone to lay him correctlynot turn his headkink his neck  sometimes he woke in the morning and knew he laid wronghis head wrongneck wrong  he couldnt imaginelet alone tolerate an eternity with a fuckin kinkd neck and not the life in him to move his head and neck around or rub it out fiercely with his fingers EUREKA! Fuck tha! Torch me. 

he found the right spot didnt want to move

content doesnt cut it 

even Heaven didnt cut it

it was right where he wanted to remain forever

                                                   usually that spot happened after sexafter love if sex had grown into love  holding her  breathing in rhythm  having cum togetherno small task 

                                                                             quiet  simmering   ecstasy

Day stood in the doorway tapping a hard finger at the frame 

                                                               WAKE UP 

as a kid after his paper route delivering it in the cold and snow hed sprawl on top the metal heat register next to the wall and fall asleep as the heat blew through his sweater onto his bellycoursing to his nethersspreading up across his chest

LIGHTS OUT 

then a tempered kick in the ribs  his old man 

                                               WAKE UP, BOY.

Day being prickish

I knowI know I know its time to get the show on the road Gimme five 

                                                                         FIVE

Day would stomp up the hall into the livingroom least the muthafucker could do was put on some coffee

he took FIVEnot a second more

hed conditioned himself to know

then hed rousedidnt wake to an alarm Who the fuck wants to wake alarmed       

he slapped his pillow

made his bed up around it

told his spot Donya move  Ill be back tonight

not like SPOT was a dog that listened

he returned

laid down

tried his awfulfuckinbest to recreate it

  Now I lay me down to sleep

                               DENIED

helplessly shook his head

it was both their faults

though it was nice to think about 

                                   the promise got him through the day

a simple thing

evenif he told himself a little white lie 

0823,  Twosday,  23  8. 22

1018,  Twosday