pazzo means crazy in Italian

That’s what the lady
at the liquor store
said as she held the
wine closer to read
the label and eager
to make a sale-
later after I
had a glass too many
I stared at my closet
thinking I might
organize it but
that lasted all of
three minutes
I want to save money
for a chartreuse scarf
and a sequin jacket
I want more flair
I want to be
a drunk Middle aged
Liza Minnelli
I want people to
call me fabulous
darling you are
fabulous darling
you look fabulous
But remember,
none of this
may be true because
I drank three
glasses of wine
and pazzo means
crazy in Italian

Staring at Jackson Pollock

She was staring at
Jackson Pollock not
at one of his paintings
but his photograph,
a coffee table book-
one of Jackson and his
wife Lee and she said
this man was a killer
didja know that?
his paintings are pure
poison and
then she throws out her
arm with gusto,
an imaginary paintbrush
in her hand
rushing in my
direction-
pow! pow! pow!
I move out
of the way of
this
pantomime hailstorm
wondering
how Jackson
always managed
to made it rain
in the middle of
a drought

this Vagina Candle nonsense

I’m not sure how they make a candle
smell like a vagina or how they make a candle
smell like driftwood in winter cold mud
tire stuck wheel going nowhere or a Hawaiian
luau candle drunk businessmen & loud women laughing
cheap drinks roasted pig fall flat on your face
I have a lot of cypress fir Christmas romance
candles stocking candy stuck to the floor
worthless stuffer nonsense going into the trash
January first but I’m not sure how they make
a candle smell like a vagina You can ask
Gwyneth Paltrow, she smells like hallelujah
charlatan revivalist, a Hollywood Benny Hinn

cage

One time we
had some second
cousins come
over
to visit

one of them
was

“emotionally
disturbed”

We had a
parakeet
and mom
said later
she found it
dead in
the cage

he squeezed
it
till it
was lifeless

I don’t
know
where he
is now

but I heard
once he
might be
homeless
in New Orleans

wandering
sticky
streets
as they
slowly
lean
in
from
all sides