So little spoken,

//

I thought she

//

Off Speedway Blvd.,

in the 5300 block, East

(to go to 5300 Hundred West would’ve been crazy.

//

In a foreign environ:

racks of black rubber pointed

out like so much cut

California roll, tubes

within tubes, with an inner

tube run inside of each.

//

In a foreign environ:

racks of black rubber

tubes within tubes, inflated, taut,

stood beside one another, like

ranks of greek soldiers or

so much cut California roll

//

In a foreign environ:

racks of black rubber tubes

within tubes, inflated, taut,

stood shoulder to shoulder like so much

cut Black Dragon Roll or

a phalanx of shielded Romans,

marching on some

uncivilized populace. There,

amongst the sordid pile of worthless

magazines featuring the styles and

icons of twelve months ago and

the red plastic waiting chairs,

forgetful of the dozens already in that day

to pass the time between estimate and

execution, I found you. So far

from the fluorescent lit Math room, so

far from the blue chaired desk where you leaned

forward, showing the black tribal insignia

adorning your lower back. I heard

you speak so little I imagined

you might be deaf but I already loved

the cracked front tooth in your

insouciant smile when something went wrong.

//

So far from the fluorescent lit Math room, so

far from the blue chaired desk where you

leaned forward to reveal the tribal insignia

adorning your lower back, where I imagined you

might be deaf you spoke so little, I found

you …

//

Where racks of black rubber tubes-within-tubes

stood, inflated, taut, shoulder to shoulder like

a phalanx of shielded Romans, marching on some

uncivilized populace or so much cut Black Dragon Roll,

there, amongst assorted worthless glossies,

showcasing as they were styles and icons twelve months

out of date, sitting in sordid piles between the

hard red plastic chairs of those dozens who had already

weathered today the time between estimate and execution,

I found you. So far from where your cracked tooth made

me fall for you, as you smiled your insouciant smile

whenever something went awry.

//

Rubber tubes-within-tubes, shoulder

to shoulder like inflated Romans, ready to march on

some Visigoth encampment or

perhaps better as cut Black Dragon Roll, set as

a long tube on a shiny white plate. Spread between

the bored, forgetful chairs, already warmed with

dozens today weathering the span between estimate

and execution, were worthless glossies, intent on

selling us the fashions of twelve months ago and

the icons then-of, too. We were so far from

where your cracked tooth had made me love you,

as you smiled your insouciant smile whenever

something went awry. How did we come to simultaneously

be here? Of all places, here?

--RFRY, 11 Aug 06

These are the attempts toward Repair (slash) Replace.