calamity in 6 colors

1. yellow 

as in yellow! my name is knife. just gonna squeeze on by ya: midwestern greeting between the 4th and 5th rib. do you mind if turn my head into a giant staircase, and you, the protagonist of our story, roll down and out where my mouth ought to be? 

good god, i am falling in love with the way i let things lie 

2. blue

oscillation / isolation
simple slept in weapon 
pistachio, moustache, pastiche, succotash, ganache, panache

sung: these are some of my favorite things. 

3. green 

i was smart until i became pope, then everything changed. first your hair becomes grey. they tell you that. but they don’t tell you your insides go gray, too. i can peek the steel with a long hard stare down my throat—can see see it creeping up like aluminum moss.  

i wanted to be a part of the city, but instead the city became part of me, and no, it doesn't go both ways. and no, i don't sing when i'm alone anymore, and yes, my head has gained 13 lbs of raw metal, and yes, i will live another day, but no, not w/ you 

4. red

Burn something down and call it a candle. Burn everything down and call it a séance. Gesture toward r(e)u(n)i(o)n.   

Look both ways before you look both ways. 

5. orange

when you close your mouth, my heart is like a fisted sock.  

6. white

keep in mind the closest exit may be behind you 

do you feel you have taken

one step forward, then two more 

steps in the same direction facing backward 

does it taste like anything 

to be so wrong about everything 

or just your usual mouth 

is it your usual mouth 

because you feel like you are always 

so wrong about everything 

do you pretend to love 

your mother 

with that mouth 

what about light 

& seeing the fact of things 

is so embarrassing 

when something disappears 

don’t you think

you know it a little better 

what does my willingness

to hide from my life say about my attitude 

toward those who choose to stay 

do you think a miracle 

is something 

that just happens 

do you think in the future 

you will say 

something, anything to me 

how is the phrase ghost pipe

both a flower & an accurate description 

of my loving surrender 

anything that pleases you should 

be miraculous when 

everything else displeases 

i think if i could give you anything 

it would be one pleasure 

or one amnesia 

if i had control over the world 

nobody would ever go bald 

vote for me 

if i ever go bald 

i will invent a new person 

to be angry at 

i need an image 

but when i imagine anyone 

your face spills on it