A ripple on the surface of a puddle at the bottom of the sea

The ocean turning a
translucent turquoise at dawn
as a telltale mist invades
my hazy presence…

spent the last few days in Ventura
tunneling thru the Santa Ana winds
with my second cousin
              little John the Conqueroo

maintaining a strict regimen of
Taco Bell & beer
              to purify myself
                                                before the gods
                              who don’t live here anymore
if they ever did

reading the future in the pink smudges that
gather at the edge of the sky

somewhere under your eyes all
zeroed-out