Hanging by the Heels

 
Is it morning
night
or afternoon?
My three best guesses
and they all feel wronger
than chipmunk cheese
sweating in a polecat stew
 
Don't speak
 
You sound like
a foghorn on heat
screeching and scratching
the top of your voice
fit to crack a skull in two
 
I couldn't say
exactly
where I've been--
three night's
of poor boy's poison
is more than any shit eating rat
could swallow in a single hoop
and still have memory
to chew
 
Just help me count my ears
then check my fingers
toes and teeth
I need to be sure
I'm alive
and more or less one piece
 
I used to keep it a secret
but when the last bottle's ass is empty
every skank and pill whore knows
there ain't a happy place left on earth
so it's better to just get home
 
Let me slump in this corner
unzip my mouth
and shut my eyes tighter
I'll leave my head to circle the sun
while the doors open and close
not a breath outside to bend a cactus
but they still slam a devil to a dozen
in the desert between my ears
 
Have you seen my clothes?
I don't remember
no gutter rolling contest
but it feels like I must've won
Mister Raggedy
finger nails gone AWOL
backs of both hands down
 
And are you sure it was me
took a piss in the wardrobe
Was that before the cat ran off
and those pictures fell and broke?
God knows my guts are twisting to puke
Better clear me a path now
I'll be ready any time soon
to shit out this hangover, dude