[as if under water]And when I walked into the umbrella shop
a fish slapped me in the face!
The long fin scooped a scraped shell from the barrel and
Went wandering from aisle to aisle like a fisherman stranded in his boat
The skies heavy and dark above me admitted no light and I could only see from the faint flicker of fluorescent bulbs the crickets and flies all singing inside, all trapped in plastic bins
Encrusted with jewels then, I demanded a balloon to fend my head from the rain
Yet even the helium of the heavy laden umbrella could not keep me awake
And the rain poured down over my head in hot bedsheets of consciousness.
And the rain poured down over my head
and the rain poured over down my head
[and coming to the surface now]and rain poured the head over my down
and the rained down over my pour head
and my head rained down over the pour
and the pour rained over my head down
and the down rained my over head pour
and the my down headed over rain pour
and my pour rained the head over down
and rained the pour my down head over
down the rain poured over my head and
my pour head rain the downed over and
[and really grasping for air]the down headed over and my pour rain
rained over head the down pour and my
poor head, down the over rained! And
over head the poor rained down and my
dour head rained, pour and over my, the
head rain over and down and poured the
head over the rain, the sound and my pour
my poor head powered the down and over-
powered the poor down head over mine and
over thou, poor my head and down power
now, over and down, my head, poor thou,
now my head, over-downed, poured the rain
my sand, under power over thou, now pour
the sand, my rain, under power over thou,
under power over thou, my rain the sanded
now, the landed how, my head rain over,
I rained straight down, under power over power
The now powered power, thou sanded in the now
Soured down in the cellar, under over over thou
Under power over now, the rain headed showered down
The head, down the over, sour rain showered down
Over rain my head down under poured the and
And the poor, under cover over under and
Thou under now, powered over my head my
Thunder over now, my coward my sand
My power overpowered, the rain! my head
Rained, the power over and down, my head
The rain thundered, my head, over and down,
And over, and down, and my head poured now
Hour over hour, and hours over now, my head,
my head, Rain downed and over the now –
[gasping]down, over, over down, under now, the rain
headed slow, the sound sudden over and heading down,
my head, though lower, the sound now down,
uncovered. my head, the loud hour over now;
now, my Rain, down I’m over thou over now
and, my Rain, I’d never undered thou, never now.
[normal]The hot bedsheets of my consciousness, awash in their power, I awoke sweating hot beads of water and found myself a shower. I wrote this poem under water now, under a showerhead of great strength, under duress of conscious stress, the balloon my head resembled in my hour of distress. Where’s my umbrella, I had once thought, though the fisherman had been wasted by my trout in his sinking boat, overboard every one went when she administered her florid fin to man’s head, we too are sinking inside, all trapped in plastic bins, the umbrellas carrying water, the bedsheets carrying limbs, The consciousness in my head aroused a sky of heavy, dark fish-men to take me strong-armed, defenseless, demanding shells of silken soil, eyes flickering in their lifeless eyes, and like shutting a silent door, I forced closed, my head down, to send it below the undersea, knowingly powerless to escape the rain that Fate commanded me. My fish, my fellow friends, I have stumbled upon a truth, that the humans who know and love have even fabricated the roof – I cannot believe my head anymore, I cannot believe my skin, it’s true this time, my fishes, they’ve taken our senses and they’ll steal our breath again! Keep your heads down, rest easy and light, dream beautiful dreams, fly beautiful flights, but seek ye not the heavens beyond or beyond the heavenly truth or beware not the others’ minds but your own, for when its left the others’ behind, you’ll find no comfort among your starry ideals and no shelter from what you find. Take my way, my friends, or take me away from my way, but I know myself better than you, and I know my way is your own, but I know should you take nothing of me a way but away, but away…look now, I’ll shed my dreary disguise, it’s enough to kill a man for wanting to philosophize…
[cheerfully now]And
over the rain my poured head down and
down the over my pour and rained head
Downed the head my pour rain over and
Over the rain poured down my head and
My head the rain and pour downed over
The head rain my over poured down and
Over headed my rain and down pour the
Down the pour and over headed rain my
Head my pour headed rain down the and
Down the rain my head over poured and
Downed my head over rain the pour and
down head the rain over and poured my
dour head over rained my poor the and
and the my drained head down pour over
pour over the rain and…
