"the clown"

the chipped-ivory painted clown
grins maniacally from cigar-box remnants
of suspect flames stretching
toward the hopeless mass of clouds like dark curls.

the chipped-ivory painted clown
lovingly drops sheaths of midnight linen
on her peaceful-at-last porcelain face
as the all-consuming fire eats her life.

the chipped-ivory painted clown
silently laughs at the doomed firefighters
and with a wink of his concupiscent brightly black left eye
brings a hell upon them, giving them the death

his reluctant lover had never lived.