one of them 

the little white glowing man from the "walk" sign
steps out & crawls on all fours 
on the sidewalk.

he's mystery flavor,
which is probably watermelon. 

i'm eating white airheads 
from the porch & wondering
if he's sticky.

the red "stop" hand is looking
for another palm to 
clap but doesn't find one
& instead hovers
& appears to be waving.

a microwave timer goes off
in the density of buildings nests,
something's ready.

i'm out there in my boxers
looking for it-- hoping
it's a bowl of dinosaur oatmeal.

the timer goes off again,
more distant this time.
softer until it disappears.

the walking man keeps a steady pace
as if he's listening 
to a song & it's probably
the same one the red hand
wants to clap along to.

a stop sign wilts
so i water it with diet coke.

the stop sign bursts 
gently into flames.
i go warm my hands by it 
until one palm turns red 
& i have the need 
to tell people to "stop."

i put the hand in my pocket.

my pocket falls out,
turns into toad. i follow
the toad hoping he understands
something about the microwave

but he just leads me
to a river of soda i didn't 
know we had. there's all sorts
of white glowing men from the signs,
they're bathing & talking
in static noises.

i want to be one of them.

i wish i had a pocket to hide 
all the 
"stop" 
"stop" 
"stop"
better. they watch me but
don't have eyes so it's not clear
how intensely they watch.

the microwave floats 
by in the water but i can't 
make out what it had inside.

they want me to walk into
the soda river. 
the river changes colors:
caramel, cola, clear, maroon. 

i dip my hand in--
all fizz-- an excited water.
i laugh-- i glow--
i burn. the kind of burn 
all light bulbs learn
to live with.

my hand is cured
& i wade in with my whole body.
this might be how 
i become one of those 
glowing men-- i whisper 
"go" "yes walk" "yes you can walk"

but the soda doesn't
want to change me & the men 
don't like me & they gossip
in their static.

i go home & my microwave 
in the middle of the floor,
not ringing but sobbing.
i put my hand on it's head 
& say "stop"