BIRTHDAY POEM : MECHANIC GUNMAN / JUNE 12, 1997 (fixed)
Daniel Lawrence Collins
.22 won’t kill a man won’t go thru metal whats the pt in ownin it when u can kill solid metal men in full speed faster than the one half ive been going on since they declared war on this auto shop / failed noon, failed sunset, failed standoff / and what does eviction mean? home isn’t a car can’t move garage to garage homes here in concrete slabs my grandfather poured out / wrench hands that palmed the skies for oil but he only got the oil in his blood / So I Stand Here / Collins Mechanic + Auto-Repair / because i don’t know what eviction means when the rug i bled on at 16 didn’t move when we starved the winter i was 14 or the time i was divorced but then i wasnt it kept the stains in blotter dots i understood / zero things i understood except that black / so they can crunch the numbers they want and say i cant pay rent – –
i will climb atop cars for eternity past stain hopping cylinder volcanoes shooting this melted proud overall-worn mechanic, torques toward the garage open switch flicked up and barrel out / stained in the rug beside the toolshelf.