parade w/ anti-aging 

they make a cream now 
that turns you into a lobster.
live forever. god yourself 
in a little robe. i walk out 
into the night lotion & we are
having a party for everyone
who has decided not to die.
blow up the light bulbs.
write your name in the shop window.
no one is safe from a wrinkle
in righteousness. i put the clown face on
& vote for which pair of teeth 
i want to bite down on the board.
when they cut off our legs 
let's not be afraid. let's instead pretend
the procedure is cosmetic.
something yearned for. how you come apart
has little to do with desire 
& more to do with seams. 
who put you together? whose dogs
do you run away from?
my tongue as a pin cushion.
the grandmothers walk & so do the unborn.
contrary to what some people say,
the unborn are very happy to remain unborn. 
little bubbles in the air. heads full of cranberries.
no air to worry about, just the highway rush.
i pick up a hitchhiker in my parade float.
he says, "what are we doing?"
i whisper, "i have no idea."
he nods & i add, "just go along with it."
which is actually terrible advice.
that is how worlds explode. that is how
you end up drinking gasoline 
in a lava garden. who knows though.
the parade just started or it's ending.
i did not ask enough questions
before i go into the cockpit of this body.
now i'm trying to play space invaders. now i'm
dressing a wound. the best treatment for age i hear
is bathing in the fountain of youth
which is really just a puddle of oil
in the grittiest gutter. unsuspecting. 
all prizes are cloaked in terror. or else
to win is to be in terror. maybe i am 
less alive than i thought. maybe i am 
walking towards the edge of the earth.
of course i believe the earth can be
walked off of. i have seen it happen. 
some people sprout wings & others 
become comets. goodbye. goodbye. goodbye.