2 Answers To Li Po's Autumn River Song Poem by Percy Dovetonsils

I
In the Houston Ship Channel

Drifting
through oil slicks
our eyes burn
like
prairie fires.

Where're
the hazmat boyz
when you need 'em?

My lover
takes a breath
and petrochemicals
line her alveoli.

'Whadya got to cut the pain, ' she gasps.
I pop the top
on a generic,
paddle my tube close to hers,
and hand it over
just before
a tanker
takes her out.

Important thing is
she died drunk.



II
Santa Ana Song

Rowing through
the styrofoam
my homeless ho
spots
a beer hoop
strangling
a heron.

'Pelican, schmelican, ' she sez.
'That ain't no pelican, my darling.
Have another Bud.'
Her skin is the color
of sand cammies.
She seems to wear
combat boots.
But that's just
her feet.



11/10/06