I’ve been in the city bottlenecking
and breathing
slower than the cruisers
who cruise their cars at night.
I play records at the slowest RPM
so the words come out
without sounding uptight.
I hide out
in the dive-down
stairways
up to heaven,
come down Lord,
carry me home.
The Bible belt
gets looser on my hips
as I kiss
die-cast aluminum lips.
I spill the salt from my teeth
into the street
where there’s a man
who will lick it from my shoes.
He asks for the time,
but I just hand him the moon’s shine.
I tell him, “Drink this, my friend,
and let the stars in your eyes live.
Let them sparkle
with the city’s tower lights.”

– Kevin Daiss