St. George in East St. Louis

May 2007

St. Goerge and the Dragon return, as do experimental stanza shapes. I feel like I am ripping off Craig Finn rather often, but he does narrative really well, and narrative is underused these days, from what I can tell.

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This is stupid. I'm going back downstairs
But I'll sell you the vapor trail. In the will
it all goes back to the children of Abraham.
Maria, Maria, don't ask me for mercy
we left it all back at the well.
And then Judas showed up in the Basement
playing rapid and ragged arpeggios.
Romeo's locked in the bathroom;
he's shaking and screaming.
Don't ask me for water, either.

We can't none of us go to the reservoir now that it's dark.
They buried the bodies and planted a tree, they call it a public park.
St. George is still out on the corner, with a lance and a rubber hose,
while the Dragon is down in the Basement stealing his clothes.

He says he works in the fashion industry.
He says after a night of industrial fashion
you'll never go naked again, but don't ask
how often you'll shower.

Last night he was back on the corner again
with a blue silk tie and a ball-point pen
selling hand-drawn maps to the Land of the Dead.
His first words are always “you never know when…”
but Judas still says he believes in a higher power.

Hey Romeo! How ‘bout a trip to the reservoir?
St. George and the Dragon are putting on a one-man show
with spray paint and scissors and magic tricks.

Hey Judas! Where you goin'
with that gun in your hand?
It sure doesn't match your lipstick.