Headbanging
Thunder fizzles out—
Hector the room mechanic selling strawberries
on the corner of Jones & Tropicana, off white Bentleys roll by…
Heavy metal strippers sliding down silver poles
to greet salacious mobs—
cheap beer & buzz cuts, fake tans & spandex dreams
over-compensating alpha-morons swingin’ bullshit shovels.
Clinking bottles of Cristal,
wowed by an artificial horizon,
lime green suits snorting coke off a Waterford candy dish.
Tweekers are cooking breakfast in a meth lab on
Washington—
Marijuana & Bananas, al fresco: fry
until golden brown (extra crispy).
From an eastside veranda—pink flamingos fading plastic:
“Incognito Sun”—shiny new foreclosure signs.
115° & even the lizards stop doing push-ups & hang cool
in the cracks of unfinished retaining walls…
cruising by the Desert Breeze Dog Park, kids revving engines
skateboarding by the Old Mormon Fort in North Las Vegas:
one kite left… under cloud’s anvil dome… it’s getting late.
Flip flops & cut offs, a half-assed line forms in the express lane.
The cashier sweats, the register fails.
Playing with questionable canned goods in aisle 5
“Sweet Sue—Whole Chicken in a can” –fill up the cart.
Price-fixed oil, gouge-out gas erases any beer money.
Leftover teen angst
invested in His & Hers ATVs (custom air-brushed)—
a well-endowed pink lady in thick black mascara
thrashing south down I-15,
subwoofers blasting angry double-bass
“Cookie Monster on PCP”
glass-garglin’ rock-salt & razor growl
“just tune down the axes & crank up the distortion, dudes!”
sky opens up—grindcore in a melancholic minor key.
Ancients spew judgment
in thunder crack & staccato zigzag flash.
Run for cover, duck & roll behind the rock…
Man-boobs bouncing along Death Valley dunes.
“Headbanging” was written by Chris D’Errico and published by Virgogray Press in his 2008 chapbook, Vegas Implosions.
Virgogray Press 