Alkaline & Hominy

That May, cafes,
this night at the surface,

rainwater levels,

Canal or Magazine
Street sundown

wading, flicker

of inhalation, unlit
lamplight, unmet.

Trafficking in was —
tight iron-black crest,

the singer’s
wrist-lace

Jazz, parade floats of
breath, embrace of

chicory, hyper-conscious
explosives:

In pieces,
findings, myco-

mounds (faded stems,
folded, faded caps);

Sweated and reddened
andouille, in McIlhenney,

hand-held on
sweltering local

radio that April,
a daycare center,

station reports
screaming out

of Oklahoma,
the Alfred P.,

two minutes after
nine, Murrah Building,

now going on, that
Ryder truck;

In vain, recounting
what’s gone.