Eulogy For the Moon

I throw away napkins
with words like desperado
and shampoo written on them.
They sink to the bottom of
the trash-can and set themselves
on fire. I stick my head inside to
watch the burning closely.

I carve the letters for midnight
on birch bark and place them in the corner.
I sleep better at nights knowing the time.

I hear a cat moaning in the street
and I swear it spoke.

I am an orphan.
Please kill me.

I call a taxi and have it run the damn thing over.
I start to write a eulogy for the cat,
but realize that only the moon
sways the ocean's tides.

I write a eulogy for the moon instead.

Ich bin ein Tråumer.
Bitte töten mich.

I fire my gun into the sky and slap
the concrete with the palms of my hands.
I wring a pigeon's neck and pluck
the beak off. I rip the nails from my fingers
and choke them down. I push my
pregnant head down the stairs and abort
all over the basement floor.

The moon swells my dreams.