Swallowing America

Swallowing America 

Look, there comes one of them now!

Put us in space, Barbra, or we'll 

     boil off in this desert, freeze off

antediluvian borders, fart el norte, 

     tarred from pale ghosts, hunted 

like heads 'neath Doggerland, spar 

     over Aegean seas, foist on farms, 

tongues jello, barbar barbar barbar, 

     our brains subsistence for zombi 

lifted, tripped over Baron's guests 

     with red frocked Nudies docked 

in Pittsburgh, worshipping Dambala 

     so older barbarians can rule

with bitter smoke, an acrid conquest, 

     scent of burnt feathers, hair, lice,

worm us through this place, stagger 

     to college, "Just Sew," effaced, prêt

à-porter, tacking, gigging, "Sea Duty," 

     dusty, Barbra, a demo won't tout 

a first time without stipend, we recon 

     blau to blue becomes azure, lazuli 

or lapis, deepest cenote, but not deep,

     deep green of rainforests, so cut

its mud jugular, cut true, pirate, beige 

     savannah, peat, blank, permafrost, 

glaze, not kingly purples who tell

     if we've escaped to move for less 

than pennies, tending looms, dimes, 

     fitting pipes, dollars per PCB, leave 

our papers to check our cred matches,

     service cereal, bacon, banana, tea:

"Did you have to fill it all the way up?"

[lyric]