Refinery Burnoff
first published in Southern Fried Weirdness
The golden triangle's ringed
by factories that paint
the most beautiful sunsets; the sun bakes
chemicals like acid bakes the brain
and you stare through the haze
at the wavering brand of Texaco
claiming the sky, wonder why
faeries answer cattle-pie mushrooms
but synthetics reinvent the universe;
oil and water the basis of life,
nature refines, people define
flame burning green blue red purple—
nothing ever rhymes with purple,
even in a language so common, so simple
uniqueness finds a way to leave its mark
that is mankind.
First published in Southern Fried Weirdness, Fall 2008. Reprinted here by the author.