Sep 21, 2021
Giraffe
A giraffe sits atop my beeping machine
he monitors my monitor
but what can he do if the chime stops?
What can he do if the line goes flat
or the great bell tolls?
I am splayed and numb, prone
like a grasshopper frozen on its back
floating on a blade of bluegrass.
My bargain backfires
--a valiant effort of Valium.
Through a fog of self-awareness
and with limbs full of lead
touch is the only true sense.
Fingertips like sandpaper
manipulate and discover the exterminator.
The hostile hotel feeds me potatoes
and burnt pork belly crisp and faceless
decaffeinating with sugar packets.
Split into fragments and misfires
we could not sleep for every deafening silent howl.
All claws dislodge from my skin
but not without leaving an oil spill.
9/21/21 Matt Fleming
