April 20th

FIRE AND VICE

I.

It began, I recall, with two shovels and a gas can
And three guys forced outdoors by a chain smoker

And beer

Chill February night, sweaty Shiner in hand,
Spotted dog running circles like an idiot
We began to dig

We dug as we spoke, as we drank or smoked
Foot thrust, tiny tricep burn, scatter the remnant
We dug as far as we could, till the handle
Buried itself in the clay
Weeks of digging and drinking, yielded the
Staggering depth of the hell hole

II.

We bottom-feeders need something to entertain us
As we suckle at our steady vices

When the digging reached its potential
We did the only thing we could (we had to do it)
We lit that bitch on fire

It was something to behold
Drizzle sweet gasoline around in the insides, down
In the guts, and wait for a good soak
Throw a match, jump backwards at the last second

Flames swirled, danced like fairies, licked the air
With eager tongues -- saucy deep-rooted pillar of fire
Led us forward in the forgiving dark

III.

We bottom-feeders need something to entertain us
As we suckle at our steady vices

Let's just say our resident fire-breather
Should have stuck to filters