Late-night Thoughts of Tommy J. Carol

by Brinly Teeple

“It’s three a.m. and I want to go to bed. I've got this lady running through my head… I know this lady way down in my country she was so pretty my eyes threw disguises at me and we would sit wonder ‘bout the future but now I’m thinking that today sounds fine to me… but I’ve been tired in my head”- “Night Shift” O.A.R.

Here I am or not I cannot tell

Halfway between two worlds

An oyster shell split in half

A glimmering polished world reflective like an oil spill

A cavernous cold spell, oddly comforting.

I lay between the two

The muttering falls around me

A cumulonimbus or stratus

No tonight and most nights to be honest

I am a cirrocumulus.

They come in spurts, the sounds.

First the animals

The growling of a bear

I could have a pet bear

Teach it to dance

It’d bite my hand off

The lowing of a cow

Am I but a fuzzy bumblebee who dares not sting?

Floating through both worlds with no intention in sight

Or am I the mighty tyrannosaurus

long gone but always remembered.

They come in spurts, the smells.

The bread

Rye, no sourdough

The glade air freshener smells

Of pumpkin spice rolls

The mildewy breath

The strong scent  of oranges

I might have one

No, they’re rotten

I’ll have pineapple instead.

They come in spurts, the sights.

Behind the curtains

A bright blue neon sign

Seems to say we’re open

When really I just want to be closed

The red of a stoplight

That I ran again

Or perhaps the crashing of Flo

Into the car in front of me

As my brakes give out

Will I pass? Will it pass?

It will, we will.

All she can feel is the cage around her

She looks and it is just a Costco blanket

The green leaves seem to jump out and

Twist around her wrists

The vines wrapping around her throat

I throw it off of her

She awakes

And screams

Then settles back to sleep.

Why did I not hear the scream?

I can hear the muttering

Floating back in