The Busboy Blues

I woke up on fire, again, this morning
still screaming
--courtesy of the nightly terrors--
a bow bending minutes like bamboo

stretched canvas forced to sell dime bags on the corner

the dream was over

the dogs barking
the coffee always burnt
the gut there
and hungry

I move the body to the other side of the bed
self as other on my mind again

"where the fuck are my keys!"
no time to think
the heat hits me all at once
and
the armies of light
try sneaking
their way into my room

a murder on the horizon

I bat it away, choke it away
find the button
and press the button
nuclear war isn’t hard
just heartless

heavy torrents of oxygen, thinned out
find their way into my lungs
I exhale
totally cognizant of the day
and one more minute I’ll have to face
alone

found car keys move down
to hip, where they hang

soon they too will know the burden of occupation

I make the journey
from one dream to another

only to discover
the
absence
of
self