they bombed the fucking zoo
o’ fairest mirror in my hand
to you, dead birds and thee, I sing
of the bombed burnt wings of the holy strewn
upon the hourglass of sodden noon
empires crumbling
Kharkiv! sweet-street zoo
bison, monkeys, giraffes,, ahh lalu
who’s dancing la rhumba in clouds faraway
all creatures want to live!
lions, tigers and bears run the circles of pork pie moons
popcorn hanging tea tree swings
peanut vendor hides for cover
absurdity trundles footstep tricked
snow cone sidewalks evening hawks lick
the lickety lovely of the sweet poison pines
and muscles made of sad
sack sand roars, my god
rockets red glare in zappo land
silent as a stone age hammer and sickle nuthouse cage
gambler’s tears dripping slo-mo off rooftop dreams
tumbleweed zen blows nose-knows serenades
escape hatch Madge
kisses her Troy Donahue corvette amulet
a natural gas
plastering bombs exploding
mr zen- x xanax reeling rifling come all this way
tosses grenades of holy water rain, last rites
man shall have dominion over
the greatest story ever sold
prayers pour in like burnt-out offerings
god covers his eyes from his tiger-striped stool
they bombed the fucking zoo
let’s go down to galilee
the grass is green
they fucking bombed the zoo
Poet and musician, Michael D. Amitin travelled the roads of the American West from California- east through the smoky burgs and train depot diners of Western Colorado, where he lived before moving to Paris, France. Recently named International Beat Poet Laureate 2020-2021, Amitin’s poems have been published in California Quarterly, Poetry Pacific, North of Oxford, PoetryontheLake, Love Love Magazine, Litterateur, and others. A current collaboration with Parisian photographer Julie Peiffer has given rise to the “Riverlights” project. and can be found at Riverlights.art
Cover artwork by Mubeen Kishany
