like a virus

Tender is the night!
No matter how old the dream
There always seems a bigger bite
When your mouth is full of peaches and cream:
Sitting near an open flame,
A game show on my tv,
Tanks roll across the kitchen floor
Aiming their hungry barrels directly at me.
Airplanes fall in pieces from the sky;
A double vodka tonic in my hand
Enticing sweet lies and gentle lullabies.
Oh, Alice and her friends trashing Wonderland,
Soon shouting near my open card table.
Their game runs from ten o'clock until four.
In the afternoon i'm dealing peace;
In the evenings they're playing for war.
And it keeps getting hot in the local cemetery;
the color and texture of coffee grounds.
I hear in the sky a thunderous gray
and a glimmer of mercy in the sounds.
my chair like a cage,
i stare numbly out to sea.
the large crate of words in my mouth
remains sealed inexplicably.
Unable to stir up any further mischief',
the scarlet letter has no time to spare;
it proves submissive when compared to death
which is spreading everywhere.