Because I know it is the only solution

asked to tell
the story of the Hulk
or the Swamp Thing
an association with mycelium
a group of friends
perhaps younger
one of them says
to make it scary
I begin
saying
there once
was a scientist
Bruce Banner
and two other men
Hannigan and Flannigan
who were out to get him
but acted like friends
they murdered him
and tossed his body
into the swamp
there they body
was transformed
by the mycelium
networks in the brain tissue
replacing lungs and liver
heart and kidneys
skin and other organs
with mycelial structures
and connecting him
to the vast planetary
and global
mycelial network
realizing I am telling
a slightly different version
of the Alan Moore
Swamp Thing
Superman enters
and encounters
a Lex Luthor character
one of the Hannigans
who has created
two 747 jets
that fly by remote control
he is flying them around
a huge hanger
then adjusts a control
the jets taking off
in different directions
then he points a gun
at Superman's head
I am now Superman
and have a dilemma
about which plane
to follow
each is headed towards a city
at the same time
I adjust the controls
but it only makes the situation worse
making one plane
rotate the wrong direction
and impossibly complicating the situation
the plane hits
the top of a building
fighter jets
are scrambling
and I know
it would be a mistake
for them to shoot
the plane down
for some obscure reason
part of his ulterior plan
meanwhile
he has a gun at my head
and is counting down as
I am secretly
unscrewing a bolt
that has been restraining me
and then screwing it back on
to foll him
he says
time's up
and pulls the trigger
I act
dodging the bullet
at Superhuman speed
and fly away
to reverse time
because I know
it is the only solution

Making me increasingly concerned

being pursued
escaping before
the find out we are gone
me and a friend
perhaps we committed a crime
stole something
from thieves
that's the sense of it
mountainous terrain
the interior of a volcano
a vast quarry
driving along a narrow road
cliff wall on the right
water on the left
navigating around
bike riders in a race
hairpin turns and twists
driving straight up the wall
hoping the car
doesn't fall backwards
we stop
believing we may have
outwitted them
some bicyclists
stop with us
awkwardly
saying nothing
staring at us
I push them
into the water
which is not deep
they do not resist
three of them
into the water
where they stand
slowly pulling out guns
my partner shoots them
we can no longer drive
the narrow path
begin to walk
with many bicycle riders
passing us
making me
increasingly
concerned

Defying the doubter

the witch
enchantress
holds a glass box
once a music box
now destroyed
gears and combs bent
the doubter
a man
sits
mocking her
telling her the glass box
is nothing
just a dream
treating her like a servant
she throws the glass box down
shattering
the dust forms a cloud
intoxicating everyone
especially the doubter
as a cat
her familiar
breathes it in
and transforms
into a sleek symbolic creature
the servant witch
is also changed
into a brighter thing
she now has all the power
and bends the dream
to her will
defying the doubter

Like a skull full of seeds

the black woman
her mouthful of earth
frantically writing
with her hand in the dust

the incessant wind
through the hills above Delphi
urgently whispering
these dreams of awakening

the broken column
in the fields now gone fallow
simply forgotten
like a skull full of seeds

Following the rest of the skeletons wherever they may lead

coordination of a series of parades
in an old city
on the outskirts
multiple processions
I am figuring out
the logistics
for the parade of the dead
leading skeletons
out of their graves
to march in unison
into the city
other parades are entering
the city from all sides
we will all meet in the center
at the graveyard
many skeletons are already above ground
I get them to help me
dig the others up
they are like mules
beast of burden
with no mind of their own
and inclined to stubbornness
it is frustrating to get them to pay attention
they still believe they have flesh
and a will of their own
but there is no will
no brain
no self
only a ghost of self
haunting their bones
in the end
they do what they are told
following
the rest of the skeletons
wherever they may lead