The gods binge on cookies

When I start to write

the madness tends to flow

outwards

inwards

pervading the space between

me

and the page

when the old man blows on the angel’s trumpet

when the cygnet grows into an ugly swan

when the wheel hits a rut in the road

when you see a manhole without a cover

when the buzzcock meets the buzzsaw

when the organ meets the grinder

when Tarzan kills the inner ape

when Jane meets a stranger’s calamity

and the last tree has fallen to addiction

when insects crawl on keyboards

when freedom is a fetish for chains

when a saint casts the first stone

when the churches sell out Jesus

when damsels seek out distress

when Bill Shakespeare returns

when dogs bark at the moon

and black cats seek to reassure us

that’s when

the thunder starts to rumble

the lightning claps

gods binge on cookies

churn the milk

spin the cosmos

I know when the keys burn like fire

when words run in fugitive ink, that it’s time.