Those Demons Again

OOOooo baby

those demons again…

when pick me head out the sand

Poet leaning there, grinnin,

turquoise tooth

shot of rye

upside right eye

OOOooo baby

those demons again…

male storm blowin in from Ajo Mountain

kickin down Carol’s Naco kitchen door

Lookout baby

those demons again…

infusin hauntin pen across page,

jokester leanin through open window

dreamin chewin on his Rosamunde,

left eye shut

soaked tight from Courvoisier

his demons lived off our gardens

drank greedily from our sweat,

cashed checks endorsed by cowboys and clowns

then swam off to saltlake oceans

his demons dressed in boots and dungarees

clothespins dangling like Bowie knives,

booze-soaked visions mistaken for blood

seductive verse burstin from 6-gun hips:

smashed poetic kick ass stars

shootin into the vacated St Elmo gulch nighttime

that demon again,

saltin our fruit trees

turnin em into scrubs

till his brakes gave out:

the Poet staring at the Light,

and duckin back Inside

that last time

Bisbee, 1980