halo

- for melissa

in my post knee surgical vicodin tainted dream
i was a spartan
campaigning in a game of xbox halo reach
standing in the middle of an open area
of the sword base courtyard
surrounded by grunts and jackals
with 2 elite generals advancing
from under the bridge

i was paralyzed
stock still in place
my sleeping body flinching
with every direct hit
from their plasma pistols
lighting up and depleting my armor shield

and at the same moment i realized i could not move
i felt your hand on my chest
and looked up to see you standing there
resplendent in a bright red armor set
a plasma repeater held out in your right arm

you walked casually around me in circles

gracefully eliminating the covenant troops

your left hand touching me the entire time
until we were the only two bodies
remaining standing on the map.

please

i am not sure

if Shamanism and Reiki

are functional concepts

outside the Pacific Time Zone

but i have sampled

philosophies and religions

at each slice of Greenwich Mean Time

looking for One who

(if only i would deliver my eternal devotion)

would take a moment

to gently smooth over
the scar tissue inside my wife

i have spent months

in smaller bits

waiting for prescriptions at Walgreens

reading the latest Popular Mechanics

in the chair by the pharmacy registers

with the long suffering

$99.95 HoMedics Therapist Select Shiatsu Massaging Cushion

installed on it

handheld control buttons broken

but still workable

with proper application of my Honda key

i have silently repeated this One word

over and over

into the moist hollow of her neck

in the long moments after we made love

begging her fallopian tubes

to open like catchers' mitts

and receive the ingredients

approaching from above and below

i have administered

the maximum dose of my mantra

pleading for the right combination

of follicle stimulating hormone and progesterone

complete and utter trust

and her spotless soul

to make just One flash of light

so small and far away

some small someOne

miles deep in a forest

striking the last match in a matchbook

and gently setting it

just beneath the tinder.