cartoon prisoner shaking bone at shabby dog with keys around its neck

locked inside the studio
I wave my keys through the fence
like a cartoon prisoner
waiting for a generous passerby
to unlock my door from the outside
a bony hand poking out of a tattered brown garment
in a prison made of stone
I'm just thinking of pirates of the Caribbean
not even a cartoon
in someone else's cavern
I stare up at thick paintings
like banners celebrating
state championships
anniversaries
such a rich move
to hang them up so high
implying you need all that space below
for something new
turns out I was drinking decaf
at the time
what do I tell you?
I'm housesitting
sifting through other people's habits
like baby shampoo only?
finding out too late about the grounds
in the jar
animal food rehydrated, flaky
for cats and fish
the wooden beams
a gen-x dream
humidifier
Sharon Tate
every family has the same photo booth
strip from the pizza place everyone works at
this really is a community
king size tempurpedic so big and so firm
like sleeping exactly on the ground
and we put our little pillows right next to each other
cheesily
and there's no other possible way
the sweetness of everything
I don't have to hate this I can just keep writing
rehydrating the flakes of my diary
into something, some kind of thing
I've forgotten to leave the keys two days in a row
what does that mean?
I don't dream on our little piece of platform earth
or nothing that I like to recall
dry, impatient dreams as if filing taxes
with a predator
put a cap on love
like are we exhausting our resources?
I read the advice column and think I'm an expert
the answer is always ask first
so frustrated by the movie rectangle
how many squares can you sit through
in a lifetime
something can fall in and out of a frame
a time frame would be nice to fall out of
fall is so often the frame I'm in
like October will solve everything
haven't left the westside in 8 years
because every fear comes true eventually
the main relief
the poor man trapped
behind the counter
while the hippie told him about
every time he's been arrested
in the last sixty years
I grab my beers and head
for greener pastures