white ghost of a fish

a staunch ally & his sister were eating
she said: i'm really breathing aren't i
here ribs were rising & falling -- yes, then,
he said, gritting his teeth & gleaming up
(meaning looking) at yon moon ha-
rumph, up there. another afternoon will

come with it's inevitable clomp of boots
on the sidewalks and now, another glass
of wine, another
ball of twine just-here-now gone, dear
mother, your son's in a sweatsuit & has
taken up postage stamps. you know,
he's (you'll find him) going to various

postal stations throughout the nation
with his hands held out siphoning stamps
from the feel-good daddies, who are
singing songs of lamps & glue, days
& nights spent fingerlessly staring
(with tweezers) inspecting; carousing
the nebulously bureaucratic ghosts of;
licking & sealing; paying & pumping;
weighing just right; adorning with trim
& bunting; these sacred parcels hereto-
fore undelivered and then magically

-- like a white ghost of a fish
out from the green water of a
December shoal --

appearing!: a gift from mother.
happy halloween