This Is Important

i.m., FA Nettelbeck

Lifted that shotglass of burnt gold tequila
HERE’S TO THE DEAD
the memory sewn shut
w/the Phoenician surfer
all nickels & dimes
found floating face down in the water
nobody knew his name
somebody said he was from southern California
nobody knew who he was
but then I’m sitting here w/Blind Willie McTell
the day fading out
              talking to a ghost
I said “I could always drive around Mexico with a severed head
in a bag, but what would I do for gas money?”
& Fred said “ALREADY got too many heads in bags in Juarez!”
Still foggy, whacked out, circus pulse, pressure...
it gives one this weird sense of “down in the hole”, a ditch or pit
(bottomless), you ain’t NEVER gonna climb out of,
even if you wanted to