I can't deliver
I'm strictly take out
with a limited menu
forget the kungpao chicken
no noodles with clam sauce
I'm straight and simple
simply basic
basically hand to mouth
I took french fries and burgers
off the menu
ten thousand deliveries ago
maybe lifetimes matter
all that melted ice cream
smeared across my floor
what a sticky order
gone totally wrong
I thought that sweetness
would fill her mouth
but she wanted
something more savoury
more rare like bloody beef
slathered with hot sauce
and a ruddy pickle
on the funny side
she was thirsty
and all I could quenchingly offer
was a coke or a fresca
she craved orange crush
screaming at the pop gods
I covered my ears
in that bottle cap stead
I dropped a half baked clay dish
brimming with semi-hard
soft ice cream
hold the whipped cream
in your mouth
until drool drips
from between your sweet lips
once I had delivered
she sent me on my carnival way
no tip or caramel kiss
feeling amiss
I plopped down
scratching out a new menu
in the mud and dirt
beneath my knees and feet
defeat drained me
a strange retreat
dang this purloined phone
hang-up communication
I'm in a breakdown
my mouth doesn't work anymore
my lips are cracked and dry
I can't speak or see
I've gone deaf and blind
all my salty tears
somehow dried up
before they smattered
upon vagary ground
desert conditions
mummified my mind
I'm some kind of faulty dummy
but somehow I remain
bathing in dish water
mopping at my splattered floor
every bedraggled day
each unengaging night
uncaging my plagiarized emotions
sweeping accosted tokens
under a costly rug
frosty truth has been spoken
while honesty mostly died
when love opened its bitter mouth
I fell into another open pit
landing hard in sentimental grit
I simply broke and cried

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