XIV

I.

At the coffee shop
down on Maryland
there's a gypsy dancing
with a severed head
and she smiles wide
at those who attend
like she doesn't mind
that her man is dead

As his blood drains out
and decends the wall
it collects and drips
in a bathroom stall
but she smiles still
as she slips and falls
a sound that echoes
in the empty hall

And I wonder now
if the artists intent
of the work's conception
and my sentiments
walk hand in hand
on gray cement
as a destined couple
or as failing friends

So our glances fall
and she smiles on
since my time is nigh
and my paper's done
but she's locked the door
to the blaring sun

and she grins at me
like she's having fun

II.

"Hand Crafted Bread"
reads a banner strung up in the window

Like that French loaf
was the product of elementary school hands

"Alright class, time for arts and crafts."

Or that sour-dough bagel
constructed by an extensive team of architects

Like that bread bowl
is a structure to be admired and dissected
before it's masticated and digested