From “from a red barn”

the weeds thick between sugar mill drums

without batting an eye

the moon strung

through the smokestack’s pupil

the connecting rod and piston

shameless before the cane gone to seed

rust scuffles with grease

the toadstool atop the heap of  filings

in the smoke box to be shielded

from the abysmal ribbing

infinite nuts to throw

at the rustproof   head of the enemy

Agabama spoon lunchless

oxidation’s honor

you know by name

every tool in the museum

of wood within reach of the waves

clamp brace brush set square

boathouse in Coconut Grove

withstood fourteen hurricanes

like the soul transpires

like the body transcends

even the seagull recognizes you

when you piss the sea three sheets to the wind

rasp box of miter joints socket chisel

the old cushionless rocking chairs

rising up in pieces

so you can spy on your childhood

they yell out but you don’t answer

you’re in the yolk of a marabu patch

no one looks for you where nothing can go

not even the guinea hens running wild

in secret you cleared a path

one evening with your plaid shirt

the only thing to get past the thorns

is the voice of your mother

meticulous like a hurricane

you spread out over the dry corollas

below a sky stripped of leaves by the clouds

like a string of ants

and you undress only for you

to await the Indians

at the crossroads there’s a smell of mother

crystallized sweat

an irrefutable knife

between encrusted cans

there’s a taste of mother at the crossroads

molasses in its light

a knife to cut everything but essence

Peruvian guava

the sharp destiny of a mother

that can be wrapped in banana leaves

a dog facing a bookcase

in the middle of see-through ruins

the bookcase was the work of asthma

there was a spot for the old oilcan

the bunch of basil the goat tallow

still the house curdled with books

the dust’s bad temper

the prompt unforeseeable water leak

the dog was the work of no one

a good swimmer

did it all ’til its dying breath

his ear bitten in the backwoods

worms ate him alive

now you do whatever you can to stop from howling