Sleeping with the Dictionary Read Online Free PDF Page A

next lifetime learn to play guitar. She can bend her tongue both ways but can’t whistle.
    Brought cactus to a housewarming. We sat on a mat with cups of jasmine tea. They slept on a thin straw
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and ate off stolen plates. Cheap, plentiful rolls of foam. No one I knew owned box springs or a sofa. Futons help the spine like yoga. Cleopatra’s barge. Massage with oil to music of flutes. It penetrates. The door left open. Someone peeked into the dark. She checked out her blind dates from the want ads at a bar called Crow’s Nest. Kind of a scene, I guess. Big picture window with a view of the bay. Hearing them giggle and moan. Those barking dogs were sea lions on the rocks offshore. I’d never wear that swimsuit. I couldn’t get to sleep at all. My mind kept circling. They all have different fathers. Some had green eyes. Genetic lottery or slot machine. Lab rat seeks reward. Advicefor my face. Once I turned it on it wouldn’t turn off. This man I didn’t know was stroking my foot without saying a word. He felt free to stare at strangers on a bus.
Frijoles borachos. Mestizaje. Hasta la pasta.
U.S. flag in neon on the ceiling of a Chinese restaurant in Texas. Good jukebox. Dollars pinned to her dress. Ready to light the sparklers. The handsome candidate dropped out of the race. Euphoria resulted in a moving violation.
    Dachshund dog wears hooks for puppy cups. Head in the briars, heart gushes a flame. Plaster hands impaired in prayer. Thick-haired Irish brothers press their true blue suits. Martyred dream. Preacher gets more chicken. Slippery pages edged with gilt. Her skirt fanned out to catch the ashes. Hula girls gesture toward tropical wood utensils. Island trips or military hitch. Shepherd vs. shepherdess. Porcelain features, elaborate frames. Angel in the nick snatches kids from the brink. Toreador velvet. Bronze shoes next to gathers. Plush puckery. Ottoman embroidery. Old masters macaroni sprayed gold. Curly bark keeps name in nail polish. Teacups, blurred roses, ivy jungle. Bowl of glass inedible. Plastic covers over formal furniture. Not a living room but a parlor. Dust to dust. The child who carves her initials on the piano. Park the bike in the kitchen. Lean against the fridge. Best cardboard tunnels. Burn scar from space heater. I’m sorry you’re toast. Voice of ham static flies around the world. Kotex box where anyone can see. Separate domiciles. Never atablecloth. Garage full of church ink. Strategize at chess while twirling spaghetti out of the pot. Where the comb went upside my head. Getting stoned after school in a rock fight. Next day I wore a dashing pirate’s eye patch. Trailer park hit by tornado. Song that says get an ugly girl to marry you. Doll with ponytail and pedalpushers. Melamac. Chinet. Slurpee. Her name was Felicia but of course they called her Fellatio.
    Two smokers came to visit so I had to find a jar lid. When he sat on my stove he could look down at me. It’s years since we’ve talked. I witnessed a green card wedding. She borrowed my white cotton dress. We drank a lot in those days. An artist allergic to paint. The way his skin felt was a surprise. It crept in. He knew we weren’t a match. Not enough heat. Ran into a blizzard. Thawed out the car at a motel with adjoining pancake house. Found a sky of double rainbows. Those rez girls, their poor pottery. Red cowboy boots might scare the snakes off. Xerox fetish. Their chants all sounded the same to me in the five-hundred-year-old housing project. No sleeping bag or view of the eclipse. Confused by all the rain a frog had entered the living room. Earthworms dying under our feet. Sold a poem today. A drunkard in the plaza called out, “Sister, may I kiss you?”

Variation on a Theme Park
    My Mickey Mouse ears are nothing like sonar. Colorado is far less rusty than Walt’s lyric riddles. If sorrow is wintergreen, well then Walt’s breakdancers are dunderheads. If hoecakes are