Royalty Toy Company

A Cat And A Rabbit
Mike vs. The Mig
2 Clowns
Inspector Ozawa
The Ordinary Malfunction
Rosa’s Lullaby
Gus Belly Up
The Chicken
The Clockwork Troll
Spring Night
Lovingly
The New Wheel
Haunting
Sleep And The Monsters
Rocketman Remembered
Royalty Toy Company
The Opening Act
Dr. Biocal’s Butterflies
6 Moths
Garage Sale
The Guitar Of The Great Wackencracker
The Shadow Next Door
7 Pictures
The Wonder And Worry Of Digby LeStac
Edison Farm
The Caterpillar King
Mr. Jensen’s Geometry
Son Of 6 Moths
The Green Balloon
The Laughing Buddha

A Cat And A Rabbit

She feeds a cat and a rabbit
living on the cardboard carpet
in the dark sloping meadow
under the house




Mike vs. The Mig

A Mig 15 heated up
the concrete swiveled underneath
as it pointed steely shine towards
the smog outline of Mount Rainier.
A thousand or so people
lined the runway here and there
visitors to the airplane fair
but Mike was standing over
the yellow rope to really feel
the charcoaling exhaust
the jet fuel pummeling him
in a stream of heat and whine
then the Soviet engine
shot sound like a rocket
ripped off Mike’s straw hat
tore off his camera too
cut him ragged in the air
as the thing tore away
to become a fast dot
lost from view




2 Clowns

A dream thanks to television
brought me of all people
Ricky Ricardo and Groucho Marx.
They were dining, red curtains
around them, gold white candles
suspended over in chandeliers
a huge table served with dishes.
On one side, Ricky speaks,
“You know, Groucho,
we’re in a wonderful place.”
Groucho, after a bite,
napkins at his mouth.
Ricky strains to see
it looks like Groucho is sad,
“Of course,” he adds quickly,
“You would probably rather be
in your brother’s company...”
Groucho has blurred his brow
the linen leaves a gravy smear
hangs like anger above his eyes
“Well you don’t have to be that way!”
Ricky sulks, and silence falls.




Inspector Ozawa

Maker of the metal heart
he walks along the beach
littered with shopping carts
watching the sea
for spare parts




The Ordinary Malfunction

Our neighbor must be trapped
in a refrigerator tapping out
military code on the icy insides
or else the men across the street
continue to repair the roof slant
at midnight. Whatever possibility
it’s too much to get out of bed
until the alarm makes morning.
When I moved from the blankets
the sound was still there somewhere
like the bent cogs of a windmill
but it was only the ordinary
malfunction of the gas heater
in the other room.




Rosa’s Lullaby

She falls asleep
holding paper flowers
filled with milk




Gus Belly Up

Looking for a dog that afternoon
the outboard slipped the boat along
a small racket causing waves
to wrinkle against the shore

The ghost of a friend appears
settled on the rocks and green
ballooned with air and water
the wake washes Gus belly up
and over




The Chicken

He spent all day trying to sell the chicken.
Carrying it in a white plastic bag
marked with red letters, it got heavier
and filled with a pool of watercolor.
When he was so tired of hours,
he finally went into a record store
and dropped it onto the counter
and simply asked,
“Want to buy a chicken?”




The Clockwork Troll

As though a character from a fairy tale
she lurks the alleys of town like a troll.
Once upon a time we saw her so mean
she squashed a green spring leaf
dropped into the street.
Then again, the next time she reappeared
she had changed. She leaned over water
at the bank fountain while she dug into
her red pocket and took out a bag of
chocolates. She found a rock sized one
and offered it to our daughter.




Spring Night

Sweet smell of laundry
and night flower hedge
I linger a little too long

A dog makes my skeleton
jump out of my skin




Lovingly

He was wide and carried
a huge bag lovingly
She was tall and almost
like a tree next to a barn
squeezed in the same seat
as the bus rolled along
“Because I love you,”
she said, prepared to kiss
but he ignored her and so
the bus turned corners
and drove some more
until she got up
moved to another seat
quiet and away
shadows, morning sun
and streets
At last he opened the bag
reached in and took out
a sandwich to eat




The New Wheel

Trying to improve on the wheel
diagrams of fantastic plans
developed, unfolded, took form
until the shape of the wheel
turned into strange to behold.
Dreamlike movement
across the floor
open the doors
to the world
and let it spin
out of control




Haunting

One of those places with a sign
drilled on the lawn For Rent
the house an empty echo
we clomped in late at night
flipped open black cases
a trumpet and a clarinet
walked in the dark warming up
room to room, slow and around
haunting with Mood Indigo




Sleep And The Monsters

The floor in front of the glow
watching the late night show
for us the vow of staying awake
while sleep and the monsters
meet on the screen
and turn into dream




Rocketman Remembered

How he used to fly
and how we would try
to repeat that leap
on the concrete
the next day




Royalty Toy Company

The crown came down, the king went
under and the subjects plundered through
everything that ever made them wonder
The Royal Museum and the Armory
all the golden magpie jewels
tearing the cloth off of airplanes
to a corner room of the palace
where the glass lies shattered on the floor
Noah’s ark with all the world’s animals
painted birds left half ready to fly




The Opening Act

In Ohio, the famous State Theater glows beside
Lake Erie. It has been open from Vaudeville and
the Depression to this very end of the 20th century.
A crowd of bright colors bent to the ticket windows
to pay twenty dollars each and go inside. What
brought us there too was the mothlike appearance
of the Smothers Brothers. Jostling among the senior
citizens for a while, we hoped for a white haired
scalper or tickets to fall somehow on marble floor.
When we were alone, everyone was deep inside
the theater watching the red curtains and gold
carvings, we decided to sneak in. Around the
corner, we found a gray service door propped
open with a little block of wood. I opened it
scarcely and saw red uniforms dressed like
decoys weighted down in chairs in the hallway.
Also, a man with thick black glasses had spotted
me and was bearing down like Teddy Roosevelt.
I hopped backwards and scooped my wife’s hand.
We hurried down the length of theater and around
into the parking lot. I looked back over my shoulder
and saw the door just beginning to open, slowly.
We were safe. A dangerous looking fire escape
clung to all the bricks running towards the roof.
We could hear applause washing inside the theater.
Past the next corner at the side of the wall, we
discovered a stage door there. We were so close
we listened to the heavily bolted metal and heard
the familiar guitar and bass and voices from records.
I put my hand on the door and for a few seconds
considered what would happen if I opened it.




Dr. Biocal’s Butterflies

Burrowed to new heights underground,
Dr. Biocal’s electric shadows roamed
back and forth, feverish at work
making deadly butterflies. Lording over
the line of pinned, stain-glass wings,
his magnified eye looming like a hole
in the moon, attaching a poisonous spine
to each specimen. When the fleet
was prepared, Dr. Biocal freed each
butterfly into a cell imprisoned in
the hollowed disguise of a violin case.

Out in the blue day, The Flower Society
buzzed around the park gardens. Hidden
in leaves, Dr. Biocal spied from a hole
in the ground. Their feet moved near
and he could hear their purrs to orange
begonias. Snaking like part of the roots,
Dr. Biocal pushed the violin case through
the brush and opened it. As it burst,
he fell back underground to watch
what happened next in a periscope.
What he saw was like a silent film panic,
the cast falling and running into each
other. He laughed at the view.

The movie didn’t stay that way.
Susan Fenton arrived and knew what to do
finding a sprinkler hose and spraying
all the deathly butterflies away.
Dr. Biocal snarled at the picture of it,
but it wasn’t quite over yet.
Overhead raindrops, distantly, then not,
the wet sound of clapping hands became
the sound of flapping, angry butterflies
returning in a waterfall down the
tunnel to him.




6 Moths

The first pet hung around the house
upside down on the ceilings of rooms
following us throughout day and night.

Using magic, it seemed to be in
more than one place at a time.
By and by though, we realized
and started keeping track of moths.

They liked to gather in the bathroom,
wrap the shower curtain over
their shoulders or hang on the wall
like paintings.




Garage Sale

“The lawnmower is free,” the man said.
He pointed from the porch to the
contraption. The rusted machine was
left in the tall grass beside the sidewalk.
A piece of string ran around it
to hold some part of the engine.
“Does it work?” says I.
The voice replied, “No.
That’s why it’s free.”




The Guitar of
The Great Wackencracker

After all the rain
wind and weather
the town could deliver
onto the planted guitar of
the Great Wackencracker
it still grows in the garden
with the usual dandelions
tall green flavored weeds
lupins and stray colored other
flowers that lose their seasons
too soon




The Shadow Next Door

The woman with the basket
pulled out wet clothes and hung them
on the line to dry. The sun in blue sky
made the white sheets glow, the socks
were candles. Birds crowded the branches
of the apple tree to sing while she worked.
She pinned up a blood red blanket
in front of her like a bullfighter,
heard the crash of the meadow fence
and she froze with her arms in the air.




7 Pictures

Janice Porch fell in love in 1942.
It must have been the work of grinning
angels, the heady draw of lobelia poised
over everything. She got married in a
week. Then the soldier was taken away.
There were seven pictures left for her.
She unwrapped them in white to look
at every night. She had to think hard
of his face, even when she held
the photographs. His tall body
next to her always ended before
his head, cropped off out of
the frame. Funny at first and
sad at last, each one like a
sunflower with the top
chopped off.




The Wonder
And Worry
Of Digby LeStac

The first time he saw a star fall,
over the dark blue ridge of town trees
to beyond, he raced back home full speed.
Along the steep walk of cracked cement,
the houses all shed glows and sounds
of radios out curtains pulled closed.
He sewed across their checkered light
running up the crazy hill.
He crashed in the swinging screen door
winded and breathless. The comforting
warmth and smells of his own home
held him all around. An orange lamp
by the sofa. His father dropped
the newspaper, looked at him
in old motion, his son, who could
only gasp and point to the sky
of the world outside.




Edison Farm

They must have built the house in winter
and the snow got caught in it, leaving
the ghost of cold that never warmed,
even in summer. The ruins were
a good place to stop after walking
in the hot open fields on the way
to town. The view out the window
stared down another mile before
the spires of the grain elevators
began.




The Caterpillar King

Sun warm on him
from the tallest height of a leaf
the Caterpillar King surveyed
the realm beyond.
Over the dark ocean tar
he saw another green land.
He wanted to know
what that mystery was.
Others had tried before
getting onto the road
and they were lost in
a sudden roaring flash.
The Caterpillar King
was lofty on his weed.
He couldn’t wait for wings.
He left the golden crown
like a drop of dew
inching down.




Mr. Jensen’s Geometry

The rain on the window
looking at the parking lot
and out of that gray day
grade school monotony
he would put you to sleep
quick as any poison apple




Son Of 6 Moths

He was waiting in morning
on the bleak ceiling next to
the hot sun of the lightbulb.
75 watts sizzled on his
brown wings, contemplating.




The Green Balloon

Out of her hand
goes the green balloon
she pushed her mother after it

but the sky is an upstairs room
and she cries at the sight of it
going home




The Laughing Buddha

The Laughing Buddha curved with the world over
water. The steamship held a full load of mahogany
in the hull. Some of the sailors were also taking back
animals to sell in America. A monkey got loose and
lived in the network of pipes that ran vines all throughout.
Over the metal bolted doorway, a slip by the cook and
he could eat all their food tossed to him above the table.
A long voyage past mines and submarines, the oceans
turned to land. After all the unloading cranes onto train
cars, the first mate drove off with a seabag and his
Laughing Buddha set up like a wooden clock on
the dashboard. For a long time, the rest of a lifetime
flowed by like a wheel. At the end, in the last seconds,
he suddenly knew. And the Laughing Buddha sat on
the fireplace mantel next to seashells, some photos
and a gong from the Congo.




Writing: April 1999-June 1999 by Allen Frost
Cover: Michael Paulus