deep into the Mekong

whoosh whoosh

thump thump

duck and dodge

lock and load

rock and roll

roll over Beethoven:

like you,

i need a place to stay.

here, beauty is being whipped around in the swirling hot dust

where birds of prey are praying,

reckoning for their reckoning.

my hair feels brittle and dry;

my taste is explosive,

and there are victims everywhere

rattling their bones,

inspecting their scars,

watching the night overcome the day.

and deep into the Mekong,

a wife wore her grief on her face,

her hair a worthless treasure.

her husband had dreams, too,

but straining in violence they tripped

a hidden booby trap,

became inaudible,

as the war moved in and out of Saigon,

barely pausing, 

pulsing over the highlands and down to the delta,

taking a stroll in the rice fields,

harvesting drops of blood.

i did what i could to love you

without forgetting myself.

i wore my thousand mile stare

facing the horizon in the distance,

its' edge forming ripples like tiny waves shivering:

whoosh whoosh

thump thump

duck and dodge

lock and load

rock and roll

roll over Beethoven:

like you, 

i need a place to stay.