BLACK BLACK BRIGHT

(excerpts)

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SUN AND HOW DO YOU KNOW IT?
I KNOW THE SUN IS POWERFUL BECAUSE I HAVE PEELED CRISPY SHOULDERS BEFORE. I KNOW THAT THE SUN EXISTS ABOVE THE RAIN CLOUDS EVERY TIME, AND YET THE SUN IS COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS TO THE RAIN CLOUDS AND THE DARKNESS OF FEBRUARY. WHAT’S THE WORD FOR IGNORING SOMETHING THAT ISN’T WORTH YOUR TIME? IS THERE A WORD FOR THAT? LIKE A VERY RICH PERSON DECIDING TO BEND OVER AND PICK UP A DIME. OR THAT PERSON DECIDING NOT TO BEND OVER AND PICK UP A DIME. THAT IS LIKE THE SUN, RIGHT? HUGE RESOURCES TO BURN AND BURN AND COLLAPSE AND FUSE ATOMS AND SPEW RADIOACTIVE SHIT FOR A VERY LONG TIME. SO IN THIS WAY I KNOW THAT THE SUN DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ME PERSONALLY BECAUSE I AM VERY SMALL AND NOT ON FIRE AT ALL. JUST BODY HEAT AND DIGESTION AND SOMETIMES I SIT IN A SAUNA BUT NOT VERY OFTEN. (HOW OLD IS THE SUN AND HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?) THE SUN HAS BEEN UP THERE OUT THERE FOR 4.5 BILLION YEARS SO LIKE MAYBE 5 BILLION MORE YEARS TO GO. GETTING BIGGER AND BIGGER AND HOTTER AND HOTTER. (UNTIL WHAT?) EXPLOSION? IMPLOSION? BLACK HOLE? IMPOTENCE? DEMENTIA? THIS IS WHAT I DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THE SUN.

YEAH, BUT WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE EARTH AND HOW TO YOU KNOW IT?
SOME OF THE THINGS I KNOW ABOUT THE EARTH ARE FROM OBSERVATION. MOSTLY SPROUTS AND DECAY. SOME PERSEVERANCE, SPOTTY RECORDS, CANYONS. THE BODIES OF EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER LIVED ON EARTH ARE STILL HERE. ALL THE PARTS OF THEM ARE PARTS OF OTHER THINGS BUT STILL HERE. I READ THAT WE ARE ALL CONSTANTLY FALLING TOWARD THE CENTER OF THE EARTH EVEN WHEN WE ARE WALKING OR FUCKING. AND THE EARTH IS SPINNING AT SOME OBSCENE RATE BUT I CAN’T FEEL IT BECAUSE I HAVE GOTTEN USED TO IT. SPEED IS RELATIVE TO OTHER THINGS. LIGHT IS THE PAST. MAYBE IT IS NOT WORTH THE TIME TO WORRY. THERE IS A LOT ABOUT THE EARTH I CHOOSE NOT TO KNOW.

SO, DO YOU KNOW STUFF ABOUT THE MOON?
YES.

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snapshots of Florida

rattling palms chattering to a fluttering umbrella providing shade to sandwich crusts left by children now waist-deep.

sea grape clumps in the foreground, behind, the lumpy dunes are reaching out to an egret crackling over long-dead shells.

me on the beach road, black clothes make my body a void about to be swallowed by the bright bright sun.

lush canopy from below while i was trying to translate bird calls into phonetic english.

my dad tying and untying rope next to someone else’s boat wearing cargo shorts and a striped shirt.

another predictably stunning sunset just after the flash but before the ghost crabs skitter out of their haunted holes.

this is the only picture i have of her, wrinkled, she was a party balloon but is now slowly leaking and screeching.

some meal in some beach bum restaurant with fishing nets on the wall and no one is looking at the camera but me.

one of us completely covered by a thin quilt napping on a rattan sofa with red cushions.

some plants on the side of the road that look completely fake.

*********

when enchanted

this long dusk
started with
midnight pizza
which is a treatment
for sloppy speech
and jet lag
shinyslick and salt

continued with
cigarette smoke
which is a thief
in the mid-morning
squeezing into the gaps
of apartment 2A
thickslush and biting

will end
with an ache
and the telescopic calm
of half-knowing