Life on Uranus
there’s none as far as we know
& most are content
to leave it at that cold dark
gaseous & further from our thoughts
than the sun beyond which lies
a large part of the universe
still under construction so
expect long delays that’s where
the dead go except for db cooper buried
under the downtown holiday inn
waiting like richard iii
to be uncovered another mystery solved
yet why as we’re setting off
on a weekend getaway to the lake
traffic backed up
past the vanishing point
clouds rumbling on the horizon
why would you tugging
at my arm nearly tearing my half-
unbuttoned shirt
howl at me to go back
so you could buy an evel
knievel collector’s cup at the 7-11
we’d just passed jesus why would anyone
because you said you’d seen him
jump this very gorge
when you were eight maybe nine
whatever the math I was pretty sure
it amounted to bullshit
but to prove it you plucked the mirrored
shades right off my face & flung
them out the window across
the ravine or tried as you swore
knievel did in his stars
& stripes jumpsuit looking a little
like elvis in vegas tumbling off the stage