1823

I graced the parkbench
With as much machismo
As a jar of maraschinos
Has pink

My collar turned up
And my headphones
Set to a safe level

Life is like a box
Of detective novels
Or anyway I'd rather
Those fell off the truck

Than chocolates
Or fluorescent tubes

No one worth noticing
Was walking on that sidestreet
So I took a cab
Past the aircraft carrier

It was done up for Christmas
A stocking on every nosecone
A tree spinning on an awac

The bridge gave off
A ghostly glow
A granddad's office
Of muzak and cold light

I remembered the Alamo and the Maine
And that only I can prevent forest fires

A time without truth
Being a kind of blaze