my windshield wipers stopped working
& the world filled up with water

maybe i won't sleep at all
& i'll get up from bed--
moth wing heart in my throat
& go outside in the
rain wearing only
my boxers & loose
black t-shirt--

last night when it rained 
my windshield wipers 
stopped working & i plunged
into the ocean-- witnessed
the storm turn into
a sea & i rolled down my
window to touch scale--
feel the thrum of a 
passing 
school of tuna fish--

i hoped that if the car filled
up with water that
i would at least
get to witness 
the great body of a hump-back whale
somewhere nearby-- looming
in the distance--
it's shadow a storm cloud--
a skyscraper 
with dwindling lights 
left on in a few offices 
as other people rejected their
the concept of sleep--

i'll just stay up all night &
barefoot in the parking lot
behind
my house i'll spit out
bottle caps & plant 
them in the hopes of attracting
my father--
he knows how to get me to
fall asleep--
he used to leave little piles
of his beer bottle caps
next to the rocking
chair while he waited for
me to fall asleep--

what's the use in sleeping
if the windshield wipers
aren't working & there's nothing
to see but water?

i can sit here all night
& watch flowers sprout
from the meandering brown & green 
glass bottles 
in the parking lot--

maybe i won't sleep at all
& i'll wake up
in a different bed 
in a different body-- much
older & maybe my shoulders will
ache & i'll wonder what
put the soreness in 
this body's muscle--
where do you feel your worry?
what color glass are
your knees?

when i drive at night
without windshield wipers
i drive slow & occasionally 
i'll pass someone on the
side of the road & they'll
resemble an eel-- a hood
pulled over their head &
i'll want to open
the door to my car & tell
them to get in-- tell them
that we'll
go where they're going--

that i want to know
what kind of ocean
they keep in their
wet shoes & if they've recently considered 
no sleeping & just
letting each day fall into
the next like rain
filling up the earth until
the whales crash into the 
sky scrapers & the street
lamps become only approximations
for stars--

the world is filling up--
the water is to 
the second story windows & oh 
what if i just stayed up 
another hour 
to watch--?