Larry's Birthday Present

Both of them belonged, at first
to worlds of loneliness or worse
on separate mountains
on different islands
on distant oceans
without notions
of their other half's existence

Larry was one-of-a-kind
his mother was a platypus
his dad a hippopotamus
her labor was laborious
the birth, of course, victorious

Similarly squirrelly,
Lori was the hairy daughter
of a lion and an otter
nature hadn't ever seen
a comparably keen
and fiery
queenly being

These two future mates
shared two common traits:
their unprecedented strangeness
yes, foreign derangeness
as well as peculiar palpitation
of offbeat cardiovascular tempo
as a result of a unique heart condition
their primary organs of affection
were bursting with treasures
so immeasurable
so pleasurable
the overflow spilled onto others
unknowingly blessing these people
in their presences
with lovely loving lovejuice

Larry was hilarious
Lori was hilorious

Their paths were misaligned
until the day they intertwined

Larry was hilarious
Lori was hilorious
together they were merrious
the days they shared were glorious

Many planets wined and dined them
when their two fine minds combined, then
suns shined divinely
from their kiss-induced sparks
comets crossed asteroid belts
moons collided with moons
one colossal black hole swallowed them up
with an emotionally
explosionally
stellar gulp
the after taste of which
refreshed the universe

Space licked its lips and smiled.

- Cabe Lindsay

Dangerous Guilt Trip #34

An old New Mexican
walking in snakeskin boots
followed a tumbleweed
into the hills

a rattlesnake, crawling
hissed when he recognized
the skin of the snake
on the man's snakeskin shoes

the old man jumped back
fearing a snake attack
knowing his boots might be
mighty offensive

On the defensive
the cowboy extended
the heel of his foot
like a spear to the snake
or a dagger

he staggered
then punched his boot forward
crushing the snake
and killing it instantly

A western Indian
walking in moccasins
followed coyote tracks
into the hills

a buffalo, roaming
grunted when it registered
the leather on the moccasins
belonged to his friend

the Indian grabbed his gun
afraid of the bison
pulled a trigger
fired a bullet
into his own shoe

He stared down the bull
through the sole in the hole
of his foot
remembering the cow
that he blasted
two seasons ago

with a teardrop of guilt
sliding down his dry throat
he questioned his intentions
and threw down his pistol

The Native American
glared at a set of two
hideous eyeballs
who wanted to
murder him

in an instant
the Indian ran in a line in the opposite direction on a path that was straighter than the arrow in his fist, pointing ahead of him

as he ran
ran
Ran with his
eyes burning
unable to blink

At the top of
the hills
the brave man
ran into
the New Mexican
and there was a sudden
and utterly devilish sound
of an arrowhead
piercing a body
simultaneously
with the signature slice
of a bottle of liquor
broken at its neck

The buffalo
sniffed out
the site of the massacre
where three bodies baked
in the sagebrush and sun

The buffalo
arrived
in a state of compassion
understanding
that the soul
of a person
and that of an animal
lives on
beyond
its skin

- Cabe Lindsay