Monongahela #2

Narcotic, nicotine, say words that please you.
Black vinyl crackling of the stars.
Teach me the words again from the beginning,
start spinning.
All we've got now is pranks, the sea heaving, sea monsters.
Unclasping of a bra like a gunshot.
When will these goddamned leaves fall I can't find my wallet.
Tooth's hurting like my heart in my mouth.
Conceive, dilate, contract.
Lightest creak of a tread on the stairs thought I heard someone.
My Alabama-haunted memory of sepia postcards, America
burnt, blurred.
Tousle my hair, the hearth is crackling.
The hound twitches in a dream.
Tell me again, say "In the beginning,"
start fabling, spinning.