under the influence of nightime

at the nuclear waste storage treatment

and retirement facility.

maybe it's the saccharine,

not the uranium

that has everyone all aglow.

with galvanized forehead

inevitably ed stigma multitasks

in a life with no future or past.

(he was unfortunately famous and forced to do nothing.)

it was slightly above room temperature

in the forbidden cityand the smoke had run out of steam.

with attitudes as

as light as steel

joe pressed forward.

rivet marriages worked out

by collective bargaining agreements.

if i take the kid to church you have to let me watch the football game in peace.

it was just the right size sentencing

in the wide open hallway

of the shoebox hotel.

back home

they had been knicknacked to death

waiting for a bus that may never come.

the seesaw trapeze swung gently

from one lung exhaust

everyone struggled mightlily to finish things, they had no business starting.

when i graduated

from that city,

my lungs and liver thanked me for it.

i still get cards from them, every now, and then

whether it's your family's tendencies,

or your radioactive reactor,

you've been exposed to.

it's a good idea

to go through the contamination shower, just in case

doing the neanderthal crawl

with rusted envelopes

carrying orders.

and no one knows the words

where everyone sings along

as daydreams dissolve in the infinite karaoke sadness.

someday the shine will wear off

that family gravestone

but the uranium , has half lives forever..........

-2/4/98

appears on HitRecord?Hit Record! CHapters ONE and TWO

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