Between hollow sockets
That stretch to some dark infinity
A narrow expanse of porous white
Reaches to splayed nostrils
And flayed yellow teeth
Gathering plaque and holes
And who will help you now?
When what was coming has come
The clouds came in on borrowed horses
Pounding, inevitable
Promised calamities of Forgetful prophets
Sent by messenger
Second hand like cowardly letters
Only echoes of words
That warrant direct eye contact
Foretold and still forgotten
Before they reached my hands
This vague familiarity
Bathed in the surprise of willful forgetting
This horse was a smoker
The dream detective turns to you
Ashes his pipe on his magnifying glass
Fixes his cap and marks the cause of death as Marlboro
Skulls scattered along an empty riverbed
Water still flowing several feet above your heads
Between you and the sky turning early evening gold.
This is no graveyard
It's a story book
And the skulls just stories outgrown
The dream detective examines his own skull
Notes the missing incisor
Hands you his cap and magnifying glass
And marks the cause of death as broken faith
And simply ceases to exist
You're the dream detective now
And who will help you
When what was coming has finally come