The Drought Continues

“Our dead fathers came down to us in the river”
                -Norman Dubie


engineers dredge commercial rivers     frantically build
a check-valve wall in the Mississippi gone drippy-drippy
back-flowing with oom-pah saline into the great carotid
exclamation point            the Orleans dot
oom-pah-pah funeral procession pah-pah dumped
into the river unevenly dividing

                       AH-MEHRH-IC-AHHH

                                     god sheds grace (dirty dog)
& Jesus Saves (with coupons)


              [sound of light murmurs discordantly, stage left]


I hear figures on the radio        data converted
into cost    “transubstantiation, baby” according to
Marty

but that white communion wafer is still a clever disguise
for dirt        a symbol of the conversion to clean
edible and in context ohhhhh, so sexy, baby, oh, baby doll,
pull my cord

let the hookworms in            cure this asthma
get on board    all aboard    all is one / connected
the balance and the balance sum    the cross
and the crossroads

the dryassed devil and the deep blue sea, baby.