NIGHT POEM #3 by Brandon Shimoda

after "Insomniac Night Poem #2 (ambien)"
by Amanda Deutch


So I prepare to count every tooth
In the yellow alloy mouth
The yellow house
At night
Knocking wooden alley mirrors
Amber lights
And siblings that appear there
Wearing
Maternal skirts
Hopped up
Within maternal paper skirts

When a brash scare of red
Blows
Past the rice and sea
Lips and folk men dance
And folk women dance
Vulnerable and very soft
Each grain that rises
The wavering glass
Must be permitted
Also
And
Convulse volcanoes

I save the first impression for later
Like ringing in a jar
A small machine
And the better of dynastic fruits
Kept well before the throat