I

 

dawn comes

to the flatland

on the otherside of the hill

Billy Ralph climbs shadow

Wamba roosts on his shoulder

pearl essential glow outlines borders of Earth

sky slides back in silence

one by one, stars

lose themselves in growing depth

jackrabbit & deer already lie

hidden in brush

 

she said:  sunrise is

an archaic term:  says Billy Ralph

Wamba closes his eyes

the thought of spinning gives him vertigo

Billy ponders:

do we call his light — dawn?

we cannot see the ball of sun

Wamba opens his eyes:

I see nothing to crow about

 

on another part of Earth

dancers kiss rattlesnakes

& drape them around neck & shoulders

lovers embrace

an alarm clock goes off

17,000,003 clocks go off in rapid succession

a dog drools in Lake Michigan

working man wrinkles his face

knuckles the sleep from his eyes

 

she said:  to see is an aggressive act

death always follows

simultumultuously:  quotes Billy Ralph

anything travelling at the speed of

light is bound

to have some repercussions

even vision :  says Wamba

 

sun appears

shadows regroup

there is a time & place

for everything

voodoo jetfighter explodes through

speed of sound

jackrabbit darts

from under bush & is

lost again

in high grass

 

dancers move

in rhythm

to sound around them…

perfume of sweat

these are only shadows

to a deeper connection

—a reality

where snakes can’t bite

can’t define

even in slowmotion-

stopaction-

instant-replay

there is a dark place

between the frames

of this Grand Illusion

where matinee idols lie

in drunken stupor…

 

Billy Ralph is puzzled:

What came first—

the chicken or the egg?

Wamba slicks back his comb

adjusts his shades

& shines his button that reads:

COLORFUL ETHNIC NATIVE

& says, rather pompously:

it is written,

in the beginning was

the word