The Unknown Demo (take 2)

Another scruffy little beach town
sleazy but essential
like rust spots on a Cadillac
or crutches for a clown
                              beneath a blue lemon sky
the streets are some other color
              (what is the color of failure? this is
              something I should know)
the sand is sand-colored
                              & the ocean blue or green or gray
big rippling sheet of aluminum
in the sun
              water beneath the ocean
for the sea urchin, for the abalone,
for the suicide’s bath
                              (cities down there as well
whole continents
              maybe kingdoms
small kingdoms
                              about the size of an oyster’s fist
but w/miles of road to swim or paddle across
              beneath the groaning wheels of plastic buses
                                          out into the rolling fields
of seaweed where you
                              grab hold of the question mark
hovering over yr head
              & wield it like a scythe