Kosciuszko, Part Two

(go ahead, press the "play" button and you get your 
very own, very special, and private poetry reading)



varnished wooden handrail and terrazzo nightmare floor
the taste of that varnished handrail
is hard to describe
salty and medicinal, i guess
(ooh, we like that, don't we?)
like the medicinal, antiseptic green soap
rubbed off a thousand grubby hands
(and a few clean ones as well)
hands full of sweat and pencil lead
(warm from armpit and groin)
and the mucous treats from every picked-clean nose
cornflakes
nose dragons


(but we need not go on about noses)
(or the things within)


terrazzo nightmare floor
especially that one spot where a bitter old man in a three-piece suit
beat the living shit out of craig with the greasy mane
greasy mane and filthy fingers
smudged with pencil lead and grubby with snot
and a bitter old man who feared his own death
and hated his aging anatomy
and the parts that didn't work quite right were still just hanging on
so he opened up when craig with the greasy man complained
and pain, pain, pain
rained down on that greasy mane
craig sat down on that terrazzo nightmare floor
the bitter old man in the three-piece suit walked away
to make a caring call to parent
walking away and breathing heavy from the beating
breathing hard
breathing heavy
his manhood swollen for the first time in months
(thank god – it still works)
(yes, that is the same manhood you're thinking about)
bloody knuckles took the place of a lurid glance
of a lingerie honey in a clothing ad


craig with the greasy mane pulled himself up,
pressed his lips to that
varnished wooden handrail
salty and medicinal
wash that lip
(sweet puffy lip)
(lie to friends and parent)
wash that lip with medicinal, antiseptic green soap
sting for all you're worth
hell on a stick and terrazzo nightmare floor
push back that greasy mane
greasy mane


the little burgundy drop was perfectly round
and matched the others
varied only in size
they were burgundy
and round
and proved rather easy to remove
from the cold, cold, cold
terrazzo floor