in the house of the greek gods



        the other day,
        i walked over matt in the lounge,
        he was a jumble of arm and leg,
        sprawled, but he'd just dropped 
        acid so that was ok.

        further along,
        marzy lay on her back, reeking
        of heinekens in the hallway.
        i turned her over cause i thought
        she might choke to death while
        sleeping if she vomited.

        in the shower, christy's feet
        hung out of the side, the water
        still running (guess the sobering
        hadn't quite worked).  i wasn't
        sure if she'd drowned or not but
        pushing aside the plastic curtains,
        i saw that she was sitting up altho
        unconscious.

        grunting and sighing
        came from around the corner and i searched
        for the source.  it was in andy's room.
        he was fucking one woman and two men
        in bed.  i wondered why he didn't
        use the floor, they were piled
        up like netted fish.

        black smoke came from farther down the
        hall.  i traced it up the stairs
        into a small blaze in
        cameron's room.  cigarettes and weed
        lay scattered about the uncombusted
        parts of the carpet.  the fire alarm 
        hadn't gone off, but no surprise
        as they were smashed a few weeks ago
        in drunken axe frenzies.

        entering a nearby room
        (the doors are kept unlocked
        to foster a close environment),
        i dialed "911".  the operator
        answered and asked for my name.
             "fire," i said and hung up.

        on the way out,
        i saw marlene's body hanging
        half out of a 2nd floor window.
        very artistic, i thought,
        almost like marilyn monroe, even
        with her dress half-off and dirty;
        but lacking that sensual shy look
        (cause she wasn't conscious).

        damion lay on the front lawn, 
        in front of the house of greek gods,
        his skin as cold as a shark.
        slumped on his side
        to drink the morning dew,
        he silently fed the detritivores.



        -- jennifer crystal chien