traffic

bright bead proceeding pulse
bracelet wound about and around
digital dot dash plastic glass steel

windows pass, reflect the sun
paint on side of highway verge
flashes of light like hidden birds
appear, disappear, frozen in flight

truck

ten tons of steel
shimmers on the highway
like a plate glass window
i look through
and see a mighty animal we have built
powerful, beautiful, full of love
i want to pet
and feed you
bring you everything
you want
thousands of miles dwarfed
into exotic fruit
fragrant lips engulfing
this seed from far away
what would fulfill you?
tell me, command me
i would nurture you
from strange, distant fields

vacuum cleaner

there’s something irresistible
about a vacuum cleaner
all sleek and shiny and new
it screams glamour
you can feed it anything
and it eats it
without complaining
of course as they grow older
vacuums aren’t quite as good
for instance —they get fat
we pretend we understand
and try not to complain
but then things really deteriorate
vacuum cleaners get too old
scratched, dirty, ragged
they clog
roar and roar and roar and roar
but never really get it up
it’s pathetic
someone suggests
changing the bag
but by then
it’s too late

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