after the holidays

Written in a nauseous daze after too much holiday spirits (mostly of the dark and aged variety):
Dreams find themselves doubled over in pockets
dank clouds of peculiar ill
hang
waiting around corners
teething under the sidewalk.
Innards quiver like a salamander on fire
peeling lizard skin splits rubbery & dry
the consistency is not leveling out
sleep arrives crooked
propped up on the couch
(beneath a foreign overcoat)
& when I open my mouth, the salamander comes out.

The Day After Christmas
When Morning's body fell wet into our door
we rushed in to cover the sound
and shoved her slime under the table

Opening the Mail
I watch the envelopes build up in the wastebasket
my favorites are the official ones
whose previous cargo may have included:
bank statements
medical information
or a reminder about those student loans.
Serious messages
come clothed in dancing pinstripes
an inward-turned somersaulting of endless hyphens.
The tessellations keep you safe,
help you keep all your debt to yourself.