diners de la loin

the sunday slandered sugar salesman
sweets seducer knuckle knocks
public lynched for peddling pleasure
discount deals on last year’s stocks
not by devilish design
no sin of thine
there is no sin
concept unneeded
contradict’ry
in this murky muddled world
of justice blinding juries
worse than useless
interfering
petition passed to blow the noose house
out with crime with wrong with rules
i’m too busy digging blues
to find something to blame
for this cyclic epidemic
highway jacking Life’s good name
bottle necking two laned hearts
with joy jam route remorse
not counting corner born of course
why include them now
this lament is dedicated
to the leisure inundated
high on cardboard pedestals
robed in rented medals
crowned with inherited laurels
waving to wild clapping crowds
of propaganda murals
not even certain which event
they’ve labeled an accomplishment
too preoccupied with planning private  island parties
to consider if the race ease won ran fair
as their offkey “hail the victor” anthems blare
/
culture quilted fiber optic
virtu digits touching
full bloomed false realities
age of metawareness
short-circuiting the System
so was the cave art algorithm
drawn with naive rock chalk
under fire’s supervision
i hopeful went a-hunting once
for my kindreds birth assigned
for the clubhouse of my “generation”
meaningless as citizen
back to “us” and “them”
back to you and i
to the social classless ball
with six billion cinderellas
in a line to share a gown
ragged fraying hand me down
waiting for a waltz
tokened for a karmic break
with an eye-patched eunuch prince
whose crown looks hella fake
/
gold flaked globe of earthen clay
molded by the diners
in their portrait airbrushed image
first one opened on day seven
breakfast all day ever since
every order over easy
originality deep buried under mound
of neuron smothered butter
sparks of spirit syrup doused
before the flames can fan
boy scout badged consumers
carry license to critic
insisting on a private booth
with off-the-menu perks
waiting on promotions
from short order sterilizers
to maitre d positions
as the Q.C. supervisors
/
suckers wait on walk-in seats
idealists in the cue
polys mathing prices
as their appetites accrue
money just a slick card trick
frugality for fools
life a smorgasbord buffet
comp included with your stay
and if you don’t believe me
ask those ducks now waddling out the door
guts bulging wallets none the lighter
smirks of satisfaction as they after smoke re-enter
granted taking seats in absence saved
venn diagramming same ambition scheme
alpha apeman fantasy
the diner owner dream
not to build or plan or run
but front door keys possess
name in cursive neon ‘cross the top
blinking beacon visible from freeway after dark
the less endowed and denim gened
burn for nametags gloss engraved
aspiring to apologize for service past depraved
spiral down the row of stools
to dwindle hopes of busboy shifts
eight hours without sitting down
for copper Lincoln tips
remarkable the never-dying ever-churning hope
remarkably incapable of puncturing sky porcelain
with avant possibility peering periscope
centrifugally chained by the circus yin and yang
rotating through the roles with hushed harangue
/
let’s revolutionize the soda fountain
hasta la free refill para siempre!
replace the soap with sanitizer
brand name hot sauce bottles
between the Heinz twin models
crayon painted curly straws to pacify the  kids
if not these time pursuits then what
appetizer entree two desserts then what
mint chocolate milkshake with a chocolate  mint cake
at what point does appetite
mid-meal crisis question
both the why behind the hunger
and the what beyond the taste
balance found in between-feeding comatose
instead of clifftop yoga on the California coast
after feast digest reflection
scraped and swept and wiped away
with the life’s work dirty plates
deposited in rear door dumpster
one more satisfied customer
/
i see others out the window
not in line for seating
not hungry though they haven’t eaten
stomachs stirring with different sensation
the third result reaction to seventh day  creation
rebellious by their being there
deballasting the balance
not even with spray cans in hands
graffiting wall protests
lean-to lounging in the lot
existential satellites
orbiting off-grid
conscientious game defectors
artfully abstaining from their id
intentions as opaque as the diner windows clean
to better see breathtaking scene
of moving sights great distances removed
/
booth no better than stool or standing
beast no bruter than me
diner by default assumption
incapable of more conclusion
thinking same of one another
drag racing the crosswalks
sizing faith by footwear
priorities by posture
is there more not really sure
but consider the miraculous
random mutation of wings
grandchild untraced offspring
of butterfly fish fins
dry and feather downed for flight
to steady steer and
sweep above the surface
see the pel-i-can
dive to scoop some lunch
whose luck is less evolved
why no gifted wings for me
no glide to my awkward stride
walking nervous waiting for
when the peli dives for me
/
consider sun and moon as diners
producer of space power and
consumer of warmth created
combustor of all energy and
reflector of energy’s light
cook and counter side house reg
in their rays and beams we bathe
seeking purpose laden guidance
laying guilty pleasure fault
what of the lostboy loiterers
who do not reverential kneel
nor raise their eyes to recognize
and give no thanks for harvest
never asked for uncollected
what of the distant polished stars
where in their subtle shining
did our fathers first spy revelations
folklore explanations
plotted in the constellations
universal answers wrapped in a riddle coded ruse
teasing ancient undeciphered anamorphic clues

songs of the sumday