Taurus Teez

I’m counting cash in the backseat

Of the Taurus. To Pop’s

Repeated question, “Am I even

Needed?” Mabel says, “I know the scene

I want! Older cats are cool, Pop,

I love you on those terms!”

Toby thinks he owns

The squeegee because his name

Is on it, but he can’t

Even hold a melody. Toby green

Stupid shirt (and his embroidery

Is shit). He strokes Mabel’s

Neck, but she don’t want

His Latin! Over plates of freezer-

Burned cactus, Pop says, “Tomorrow

I ink embarrassed koi, or at least

The tiny stags!” “What is it,”

Mother asks, “that will finally

Relieve you of  this obsession?”

After dinner I’m smashing

Glass bottles, my hands vibrating — 

Exquisitely-timed palsy — 

Over beads that drop like hail

Into the furnace where I round them

For mother to arrange

Into waterfall scenes on fabric.

But she’s still in the H&M

Filling her bags with beads so

Venetian they cannot meet the eye.

Meanwhile some teens

Want to buy a glitter T with VISA.

“Shit no plastic here!” I say.

“How can I convince these kids

To pay with cash?” “Not my problem,

Bud!” Pop says from his desk

Where he’s busy sketching

Teams nutting in the orchard.

Toby puts his beanie on,

But it’s only August 3rd! Mabel’s tossing

Gourds in fields destroyed

By another mall, one big

Meditation, soft, and already made.