Poem for Lance

woke up one morning and the most extraordinary thing happened
three small chinese girls spinning in red dresses
she turned into a beautiful butterfly and flew away
you don't want to be an old waiter

clouds and jet trails forming a phoenix
so the problem is basically one of attrition
although I was never able to nail it down exactly, I had heard rumors
that would be unfortunate

hold your breath here
his paintings are still hanging in my closet
then we had lunch at cafe claude
hey, you want to meet my little sister

one long afternoon, he decided something entirely different
kiss it
there was sausage and cheese from molinari's
imagining that it could all be solved quite neatly

a subscription from nineteen-eighty-five
burning up
we're very close, you know
how lonely can you feel

still, all and all, I think it was for the best