Part One

Mongrel Vaudeville

SELECT COMPENDIUM OF FLAWS AT 32

Asymmetrical patch of stomach hair on left side, vaguely triangular
Bundle of tumorous blood vessels under left eye (benign), also known as spider angioma
Surgically implanted mesh threading the abdomen, denotes cyborg
Eyebrow hair of excess length, unruly
Missing rectangle of enamel on right central incisor, bottom left corner
Dry skin under beard, furtive
Scant intake of fruit, with exception of overpriced and bottled drinks
Extreme unction in the face of government-employed authority figures
Still paying rent
Has not read Proust
Dreadful lack of mastery as concerns any musical instrument: guitar, saw, child’s accordion etc.
Boring haircut, several years running
No progeny
Allergic to air conditioning
Annoying proclivity for stating obvious
Exceedingly catholic regard for cinema, untrustworthy partner
Narrow culinary skill set; mostly egg-, stew-, or sandwich-based
Unnecessary volume of alcohol consumption at parties wherein said alcohol is free
Unilingual: American-English
Raised, abrased patch of France-shaped scar tissue on right index finger; the result of a bizarre childhood injury involving a medieval Irish cannon
Compulsively punctual, read early

THE FACTS

Facts passing
by eye
too fast already
on Sunday train
so like this century
fascinating stupid gorgeous and cruel
like someone you’d never take
seriously but what asshole would sleep
with history in the first place?
slicing through eerie Massachusetts fog
to watch the graffiti blur
into an alien cursive
fascinating gorgeous illegal screaming
I AM FACT
like a gravestone
says WAS
this manner
of dim persistence
made billboard dire
as the palpitations continue
foraging nerve from readiness
in a heavy spectral burst
you were already passing by
lips curving into a purple snarl
or ransacking a thousand quick dilapidations
for their quotient of art
we forged another brief pornography
or alchemy same difference
this too sane century
mediating each disaster
before it comes
so as
to forget
real time death
I AM FACT
for this brief tenure
or am I simply
another of this century’s delusions
torquing into the camera’s path
which passes too quick already turning
every face into its own gravestone
I put this fact on earth
to receive its failure daily
to coax an egress
from truth or goad
all trains south
where spirit differs
and fact
gladly collapses