on gas and newer vehicles

a Challenger dies
on the side of the highway
there's a hole
where the gas cap
used to be,
mechanics insist
at the root of problem
is a hairline crack not easily detectable
by the untrained eye
the loose threading a sure indicator
of poor design

the makers on the other hand
allude to the possibility that
the flaw may be more human,
thinking that the disposition
could've easily occured while
topping-off the wiper fluid and keeping
the coolant in check

on the cold and narrow shoulder
there's no room to test the morbid logic
of pseudointellects or scholarly design
the process of engaging is a loose
foot-stomp countered by a feely grope
for anything with teeth and as long as
the engine turns over and the sock
doesn't fall out

theory atomized

in the first jolt of smoke

the tools for everything else ...f*

today's horoscope said
a quest for raging passion
could easily drown
the rational man

still the scales tip in a warm southerly hemisphere
and seemingly harmless peri-oral sensors
slither down abs
unbutton i's

naked I paddle through a
kluge in the drawers of
a sophisticated organizer

looking for the little rubber
hats but considering the possibility
that after the leg razor, nail
file and sewing needle pricks

the stars

could be correct

when to kill

I was sure she wasn't Medusa
Medusa hid under a tangle of vipers
not fine combed
with a conservative auburn luster

and when our eyes met
I turned to sub-rate shale that flaked and fell apart
not real stone

I might've been fooled by
the depth her fangs
could penetrate
but as night progressed
the head came off too easy

I mirrored the last painted upper brow
donned Hades cap of invisibility

sure it was a trap