Long Without Stars, The Sky Broke Itself Into Diamonds


Like celestial jewelry, it rained down
and I dashed to the bookstore,
just as Achmed silently zoomed to the field.
He lurked amond the falling diamonds,
and then ran to the soda shop
"Please stop touching the tree," I said,
"for the ball doesn't understand the ink."
Achmed's eyes crawled like metal molars
stuck in lollipop stickiness
in the endless pores of a dragon's breath.
"When you take the fish out of water,
will it not mold and start to stink?" he asked.
"Well, " I said, "the fish is like a snake,
and the spray-painted apple tempts the fish in the pool."

Never was there a greater need for superman
to find the remote control!

And like a combination blender/slide projector,
Achmen was at a loss.
He could not find what he was looking for,
and he could not have what he wanted.
He closed his eys for me with magnetic fingers,
just barely touching,
they never opened again.