Asylum Pines In Fall

the two pines clamor
demand his attentions
climb together in the raw 
and stripping wind
branches entwined
they reach into the scabs
of chaotic clouds
bleached out by a
scheming sun
what they want
they take from him
promising nothing
in return
he shifts gears past the asylum
past the forgotten bog
chatting with o'leary
about broken hearts
bad jokes
cheap grins
cheaper beer
the cracked speaker
glassy curls
about the ones
that got away
the ones that stayed
the luminous one
o'leary knows the drill
spills no secrets as they run out
of things to say
hearing only
the sound of needles
falling in thick grass

jppestana November 2, 2016