dream cities (june)
in my dreams a city: cheap
motel mdf furniture crowding
a room oil black carpet. in another dream:
palazzo-museum courtyard green
row of cypresses path of sunken white
stone glass-walled gift shop honey-color floors.
another city, a store: take the escalators
another half level to the bargain
section row after row food court din
a rack of used prom gowns athleisure
tennis bracelets a supermarket toilet brushes
snacks from your childhood. in another dream
a marketplace: michelin star tarpaulin a tank
of live fish a man who uses a knife like singing
a mini truck brick rattle the smell of a shell
heating on coals every smell imaginable
a sea-song. in the first city:
a street that slopes imperceptibly and
your motel room is on the first floor.
after a good rain the asphalt shines back
at the street signs. now you walk in
search of a late night meal past open
doorways spilling elbows on the counter,
restaurant-chatter. hours ago you paused
at the marble steps leaving or entering
a museum, reminded of another palace.
