Kenshire

lincolnshire's

stuck-up

sister, always holier-than-thou

really good job at the bank

nice hairdo

prissy but shaky

from

the drinking

that's what this

is

one house

a shipwreck

the next one a

goddamn beautiful

birthday cake

many of them

built

it seems like

the day after

JFK got shot

regal and apologetic

brick

and siding, brick

and sentiment

something about

the inauguration

something about

the taste of vodka

in a

car

you walk by

a splendid

split-level

perfectly

ossified

and then

there's

one with busted

shutters

and an old water-heater

in the

side-yard

beached whale

broken promises

daddy issues

lincolnshire is

hiding

nothing, bitch

lincolnshire is litter and

trump bumper-stickers

and mexican

kids playing war

and

leaving popsicle sticks

on the sidewalk

but here

on kenshire

silence, people,

silence

behind the high school

a sort of gentility

hiding like

holier-than-thou shakiness

secret

drinking has its own rewards

its own

language

its own

poetics and the sky

soaked

with a sort of cantaloupe loveliness

as if you need a drink

to know who

you

are