were any blooms open this morning?
did the radio come on?
a small lunch, salad and peas
the waitress takes moonbeams into her mouth
but Pico is subtle with the peas
he grimaces and knifes them
temperatures begins to fall
the mayonnaise is crystalline and dangerous
little lines run crazy across the lettuce
at home something is wrong
streetcars rolling uphill again
old women rip their hair
the stairs are white with noble gases
there in the arms of the furnace repairman
Molly bares her breasts sunward
Copyright © 2001 Lee Ballentine
Lee Ballentine edited Poly: New Speculative Writing, an Anatomy of Wonder Best Book, and was the art editor of World Fantasy Award Finalist High Fantastic. He publishes Ur-Vox, a journal of surrealist poetry and photography. His books of poems include Dream Protocols and Phase Language. He lives in Colorado. Visit his Web site for more about him.