D. B. DEVILLIERS

men shot each other here a million
years ago the sign says. looks like
everywhere I’ve ever been.
the land is flat and the sky is yellow.
the sun is blue.
twin icosceles spears of greenery meet
the center of the windscreen like a vision
test. same as everything I’ve ever seen.

they found a mastadon here, right
behind the wendy’s. you see the sign
waiting for the light to change. cvs drive
thru for pointed
weapons. another day. and another.
and years.

alembic and flame for yet greater
stonehardening of the soul. all the little
flares of quotidien memory arrayed
such that time functions like physical
distance. when viewed from proper
vantage they almost make a proper picture
seen backwards from heaven
at the end of time

or forwards, for a fraction of a second,
right here, at this very moment.