postcard from Indiana

[Split]

italicized.
between the coughs, and cigarettes,
we stretched connected dots of Christmas specks.
leaking frost, gossamer breath in the somber winterette.
introspectrum. grays, mostly. coffee grounds, kettle, pot,
blink and frame it. stalling for the shot. shadows payroll,
headlit halo traces. lay-low crawling angels.
bawling bangles, bursts of jingles, pop-up page of glossy narratives,
commercials (insert single), costly trait and fatal flaw inheritance.
not like the irreverence of my only coffee table.
with the faded oak. grain exposed, pocked up crown. dropping angles.
except unloading, i could tell it's stain's just blotchy now.
with the darker spills, you are supposed to dab.
things to learn with age. termed "appreciation".
I've got an "effed" perspective. set me straight.
turn the phrase away, bitch. it's getting late.
slow draining drinks. you cracked all the eggs,
And I made an eggnog, in which to sink. even in my Saturday best,
slippers, sagging sweats and bunching dress socks,
my business-arranging grin left a awful lot unsaid.