ameripass nineteen ninety

in new orleans we stepped off the greyhound bus and
did all the usual things:
walked the length of bourbon street drinking something
sweet and strong, yes
all that and
we stayed in yet another
cheap place, a dark ground floor room and, yes
more fighting and angry fucking
on stiff sheets and
when the rain came and
the streets boiled
with swirling chocolate milk tides,
the water lapped at the threshold
and slid
quite a way across the carpet tiles, then
when it subsided we were bedevilled
by bold brown roaches,
big fuckers, watching
as you lay insensible
on that buggered bed and
as I moved joylessly
in and out of you, and
scattering
to the cracked corners
of the shower stall
when I tried to scrub out your smell.

in a moment of clarity we decided on arizona,
southern arizona,
reasoning we needed some dryness.

we didn't have a good time there either.
phoenix seemed a bright shit-hole, and
when we ate fat and protein
in some wide diner
every blank face in there
just looked at us.