The Defection Of The Pale Horse Of The Apocalypse
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saddled-up again we ride to sweat and bone,
\ngallop across the bogs,
\nfugitive from the sweep of the scythe of mortality,
\ncome to collect its due for the passing through
\nthis life, for what I took from its brimful cache
\nof loves and sorrows. Time to ante up\u2014
\nbut I am one with my lathered-up steed,
\nthe churn of heartbeat merged with clattering hooves.
\nWe crest waves, scramble the troughs, and leap into flames,
\nour pale skins ghosted with ash.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Gimcrack
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

It kisses and runs,
\nswitches bitter and salt
\nfor saccharine thoughts
\nlacquered with neon polish.
\nIt marks with a bling bling<\/em>
\nskull and bones my softest spot.
\nIts festoonery muffles the razor tongue,
\nits pop-beads skitter in the mortal dust
\nmy patent shoes kick up
\ntapping their exit gambit.
\nHuzzahs! <\/em>to the gimcrackery
\nof a frittering life, whooshing to ashes
\nin a sizzle of sparks.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Bullock\u2019s Oriole
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t remember Bullock\u2019s Oriole,<\/em>
\nbut bird<\/em>.
\nA place called Bullock\u2019s Landing
\n<\/em>blurs into <\/em>a <\/em>landscape of places<\/em>
\npulsing with birds.
\nAt 64 Bullock\u2019s Cul de Sac,
\n<\/em>a house <\/em>with widow\u2019s walk
\nand a welcome mat dissolves
\ninto a jumble of its own rubble.
\nA window tilts and falls,
\na door splinters,
\nclapboards slip and crumble.
\nI don\u2019t remember James<\/em>,
\nbut a man <\/em>in a yellow-and-black slicker
\nwalks the fence line among the dead
\n<\/em>unburdened of their earthly names,
\nglides through a scrim of birds,
\n<\/em>pauses among a palette of places<\/em>,
\nslips into a mist of houses, <\/em>
\nand locks the door behind him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Defection Of The Pale Horse Of The Apocalypse Saddled-up again we ride to sweat and bone, gallop across the bogs, fugitive from the sweep of the scythe of mortality, come to collect its due for the passing through this life, for what I took from its brimful cache of loves and sorrows. Time to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2267"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2406,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2267\/revisions\/2406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}