I listen to silence
I could not bear
sloping perfume these men
knew fevered Scarlett
blinded click click
prize unseen clutched skirts
clumsy backyard station wagon
tipped over the granite
conversation dead housewives
used to have over
bloody fences.

The estate sealed its beauty
really well still burned out
cars and barren faces
taint the white clouds
above salty circumstance
without regret.

I looked again
he undoes his belt
two drops of bourbon
glitters in sweat circles
and Realists enter Jackson's
barn studio, spraycans ready.

The whole state of Illinois
beneath clean bed sheets
snores rudely when hunters
shoot elks out of season,
Earth maiden sobs forgiveness
then curses modern technology to rust
slowly from within.

And she writes
down the testament
on our souls while sound
deafens us to human kindness
can not hear Banishment's solemn neon exit
because....

____________________________________________________________________________

I_________________________Don't_______________Fit_________________Here
By stevenallenmay

Valuable
innermost
____________________________like life________ surprise
____________________________like girl________ mystery

____________________________and ask
____________________________and say________ simplicity

______________________________________________________________________spring
_______________________________________________________________________petal
_______________________________________________________________________when
_______________________________________________________________________bed
__________________________________________man
_____________________________________________________________________may you
__________________________________________men
_____________________________________________________________________what chin

____________________________smell
____________________________grace
__________________________________________blue
____________________________could
____________________________shine
__________________________________________she
____________________________could
____________________________lotion __________sheing
____________________________these
_____________________________sing ___________pewter
_____________________________arm ____________gel
lick there _____________________warm ____________leg ______________________my cleanse
You _____________________________________________________________________Me

stevenallenmay is a poet, performance artist, events coordinator, and experimenter with language and technology. Creator of Bardfest in Berks County, PA and founder of Berks Bards, a 501 c 3 poetry nonprofit, s – a – m also co-founded Plan B Press in 1998.

s – a – m is the author of Plastic Sunrise (2003), and fra ctu rede velop ment (2006) as well as the assembler of Spontaneous Chili (2001) and has been published in various print and electronic medium.

He recently earned his Masters in Arts Management degree from George Mason University, and is currently a stay-at-home dad to his 2 children under the age of two. There must be a poem in these experiences, if he ever had time to write.