Frank
By CAConrad
13 May 2002
"this is your
captain" Frank says from the cockpit
"all passengers wishing to bail out
any time during our flight
it
is
too
late
I have shredded the parachutes to confetti
in celebration of our arrival"
milk pours from the sky
the countryside is comfortable
and burping
no one wants umbrellas
crocodiles snore on the white surface of the lake
Frank naps on the lawn
smiling
with tomorrow's sun
gutters will
curdle and
sour
"this daisy in my
mouth" Frank says
"is a snorkel
breathing
another
dimension"
Frank pedals
his bike
to work
it's so marvelous
a ride
he goes home
to start over
a fortnight of this
and he still doesn't
know he's
fired
for love
Frank spoke softly
into envelopes
instead of
writing
letters
he pulled the
jukebox plug
before the song
said it for him
Frank puts 4, 5, 6
sticks of
dynamite
in his
mouth
he lights a match
imagines the
gold it'll knock
out of his head
though Frank
has never been
here before
she serves
him soup in
a wooden bowl
with bite
marks his
teeth
exactly
fit
at night
the fern
the chive
the philodendron
kiss Frank's brow
in green conspiracy
Copyright © 2002 CAConrad
CAConrad has poems in American Writing, Exquisite Corpse, Chiron Review, and other journals. His latest chapbook is a collaborative work with poet Frank Sherlock titled (end-begin w/chants) published by Mooncalf Press. He edits Banjo: Poets Talking, and co-edits Frequency Magazine: An Annual Audio Journal with Magdalena Zurawski. His book advancedELVIScourse is forthcoming from Buck Downs Books, and his book Frank is forthcoming from The Jargon Society. CAConrad's previous publications in Strange Horizons can be found in our Archive.