Paradise

Stepping over that imaginary line between Suburbia And Darkness The woods are going to eat you up Slide down a crumbling cliff White chalk on the seat of your pants Thorns in your palms from a bad grab Sweat, sweat- sticky summer sun Children laughing on the blinding pavement Then Just buzzing Whirring Leaves in the trees, water in the creek Battered cattails leaning on concrete pipes Steel rods breaking the current like fingers Coyote-shredded carrion All behind a veil of brush and flies Catching minnows in the arch of your feet Caught! Male Female Take them home, raise them up Long streamers of toad eggs Let them tickle your feet Gather them in a tub No, put them back. You killed hundreds once. Let it all eat you up Tiny Little Paradise Then scale the cliff, go back to pavement.