Map of America

trace the pacific coast with your hand

feel the moisture on your fingertips crossing the Missouri the storms

off the gulf of mexico thrashing you taste the

bitter flavor of the alcoholics the never really clean

rest station toilets rotten seafood in the bars on park avenue enter with me

enter the golden peep shows inhale the perfume

of those girls ruined by overuse

see the cruelty of the game shows look at those men wrapped to their teeth

making their way up democracy's dark cliffs

hear the wail of the underground parking garages

the roar of the broadcasting stations announcing the flood

hear the slow drone of the lone supervisors of the apocalypse

January 2001