my tarot cards led me astray

7/16/18 12:15AM

my tarot cards led me astray

i trekked over a mountain just to see the dead 

whose stones have been soiled

and some lie wearing away in the creek

the plumbob above the quest end kept moving, further and further away

and that dreaded princess of cups led me astray

the trees are closing in

and there are bugs on my arms, too many to count

they all fly away when i quake or blow smoke

the knightly coal miners and their discs have been buried

though i still see their ghosts and hear their canaries

the art card i pulled lays in meadows now

where the underbrush roils at the sound of a storm

i wish the cocktails were nine dollars again

the bars were full of eyes

on pyramids, in bookshelves

the dancers were all high

i miss beatnik chaos that i dug myself in

and the foot tapping, chain smoking soups i ate

their warm bellows

whenever i belch

makes me miss my valiant fellows

the swami named fae and her spirit repose

was enough to bloody my nose