last night i dreamed i was staying as a guest on the flaming lips' compound. only instead of it being situated in oklahoma it was in the desert canyons of utah. the dream started with leon and i and the lips and all their friends and hangers-on standing at the precipice of a huge canyon, 1000 feet down, and looking across to the other side, at sunset. across the chasm the desert was on fire. every scrubby bunch of shrub, every cactus, anything that could light on fire, did. and it was spreading, quickly. wayne coyne seemed unperturbed. i asked him if we were really going to be safe or if we should start to pack up and move on. he shrugged and said that if the fire managed to leap across the chasm, he would be very surprised. he didn't seem that interested in talking to me. i got the distinct impression i was a nuisance somehow. i tried to just stay out of his way as a result.

everyone wandered back into the house after the sun went down. the fires across the way kept the light level even. i found my way into a deserted guestroom and lay on a single bed in the gloaming, a mexican-style blanket tucked under my feet. i looked out the window to watch to make sure the fire didn't spread across the canyon to the FLips' property. i was shocked when suddenly a large flame licked up at the window, from directly below me, and jumped down my throat. it didn't hurt. it felt, in fact, kind of nice, though my entire body was immediately dulled and soothed and made slow and incredibly warm. i tried to get up to tell everyone what had just happened, and that i wanted them to check the perimeter of the house to make sure no more rogue flames had appeared, but moving was incredibly difficult. i could feel the fire in my belly, hot and hard and firm, more of a coal than a flame. i managed to open the door to the room i was in and make my way down a long, dark hallway covered in pictures of the FLips from when they were touring. wayne coyne was crossing the hallway from one room to another when he spotted me stumbling along. alarmed, he walked towards me, saying, "hey, hey there, girly. are you alright now?" i was bent over at the waist and the heat from inside me was making sweat drip from my forehead. i had one hand on the wall as i moved, and i accidently knocked picture frames off the wall as he approached me, and i felt embarrassed.

"i think i'm sick," i said. "i swallowed fire." he put one arm around my waist and his other hand on my forehead. "you're burning up," he said, "come on, come with me." he started to lead me down the hallway to a different, more brightly lit room. his wife was there, watching television and chatting with a bunch of other people. i tried to tell them about how i'd see fire right outside the house but every time my mouth opened all that would come out was smoke. as wayne laid me down on his bed, i could see my skin was turning red from the inside out. little splotches of redness would bloom on a the backs of my hands and then spread quickly from one to the other, until i couldn't see normal flesh colour at all. "she has a fever," wayned told everyone, "a real high one. come on, now. let's help her, okay? i'm going to get some medication. michelle, you make her smile or turn the channel, whatever she wants."

michelle, his wife, was a good nurse. she pulled the blankets up around my chin and kept her cool, ringed hand on my forehead and told me funny stories. i could feel my feet turning red, then my legs. as the burning rushed up to my crotch i started to panic a little and writhed. "i'm going to burn from the inside out because i swallowed fire, michelle." she laughed and said, "you're delirious, hun'. just try to relax." the t.v. was flickering and people were smoking cigarettes and pot and i would have given anything for a margarita or a beer or even just water. but it wasn't happening, because i realized that if i opened my mouth, the fire had gotten so big inside me, it would jump out of my throat, desperate for more oxygen, and set everything in the FLips' home on fire. i did not want to be the woman that burned down their house. i kept my lips shut. i started to doze a little, feeling hotter and hotter and unable to keep my eyes open.

finally i was shaken awake by wayne. the room was empty then, and dark, the t.v. off. he was sitting next to me on the bed. he'd opened the curtains on the windows so i could see how the desert across the canyon was completely in flames now, like a great wall of fire, held back from the house only by the chasm. "look," he said. he turned so we were facing the same way, and then held my hand nice and tight in his. "everything is burning," he said quietly, and i felt in love with him suddenly. i wanted to talk to him and tell him this, but i was still afraid flames would come out of my mouth. "it's okay," he said, "we're safe." he leaned in and kissed my forehead. the bliss i felt at his cool lips, the feel of his beard and mustache pressed against my sweaty forehead, was too much, and i opened my mouth to say, "thank you, thank you," and my throat felt raw and dry and no sound came out and no flames did either. i was happy and feverish and turned my face up to meet his, and he put his lips on my cheek, then my mouth. we kissed and it felt hot yet chaste. when we parted, i looked down my legs and the bed to the window again and at the great desert fire. wayne stayed silent next to me. and that was when flames erupted from my toes, under the blanket, and burned through, casting an eerie, flickering light across the room. it didn't hurt. we both stared at my feet, but neither of us seemed particularly amazed or shocked. "i'm burning up," i said, softly, almost to myself.

"that's alright," wayne said, "when it's all over, you'll lay your fertile self down on the ground, and make rich soil, and everything will grow out of you. my sweet volcano."

"this is the worst fever i ever had," i said, watching the fire climb to my ankles and begin to consume my calves.

"the tylenol did nothing," he said, sadly, shaking his head.

as a small girl i was given a sterling silver spoon, miniature, with my three names engraved on its stem. an apparently solemn and priceless keepsake, so tiny and delicate, no one would ever actually use it to feed a baby. i found this spoon recently, while shifting through a steamer trunk that stunk of mildew and yellowed papers and stiffening teen magazines, the only smells remaining from my childhood. i turned it over and over in my hands and rubbed my fingers along the names that aren't mine anymore, then i spun it 'round - the scoop pointed at my solar plexis - and dug in.

it wasn't hard because my entire being has softened somehow in the last ten years: flesh to wet sponge, bone to goo, tendon to sodden strings. so i shouldn't have been surprised to find that it was a simple matter of pushing directly through to a lazily beating heart muscle. and i moved that tiny spoon so delicately and dug a little hole no bigger than the size of a newly-conceived fetus fist only slightly to the side of my apathetic aorta.

i say "apathetic aorta" because anyone who's heart is a normal heart would probably have died if they tried this same thing on themselves: taking a small metal spoon from the early 70's, inserting it into their heart, and removing tiny scoopfuls of pulsing muscle flesh, to deposit at the bottom of their cardboard steamer trunk. but my heart didn't care and well, it was just another day, to that lazy lumpful of lethargic tissue.

i didn't do this just to get all my angst out, either (for that i would have tried trepanation). i did this unthinkable thing because i thought maybe if there were a hole there, gasping and sputtering, there'd be room for you to come along and put your finger in and stop up the emptiness so nothing could continue to pour out of me. i wanted to put those little pieces of soft moist flesh on a plate or pillow to present them to you, a gift from on most high, so you could see truly how much i am willing to fork - or spoon - over.

but you didn't return my call when i left messages, dear. you didn't check your email for a month. you didn't sneak past my bedroom window to peer in through the gauze and check to see if i was being well-used. you didn't wonder, you didn't ponder. you went vegetarian and heart-meat was off the menu.

so i'll just wander around, okay, with this stupid fucking useless spoon hanging out of my chest hole. it catches on everything and hurts sometimes. it's cool at parties to pull off my shirt and show it around, how it gently bobs up and down with each beat. it will know before i do when i'm dead. but mostly everyone just ignores the protruding baby spoon, at best giving it an uncomfortable, cursory glance. all they want to see is my new bra and big tits. which is fine, you know, because the filigree names on the stem haven't been mine since i was just under three, or so. it means nothing. really.

i had a bad dream last night. my family and i were camping. or at least, staying in this kind of run-down old cabin. it was a 20 minute walk from a gorgeous sandy beach. there were tons of people there all the time - a real party atmosphere. everyone was loaded and acting goofy and children were running rampant and i started to feel overwhelmed because i could not go anywhere without there being tons of drunken people around - even in our own cabin. finally i succumbed to the partying and started to get loaded, too. this cute boy i know was sitting on the counter in the kitchen, just swinging his legs back and forth, and asked me to come over to talk to him, so i did. he asked me if i was hot for him and i drunkenly said yes, i was, and i had been for a long time, and was he hot for me? and he said yes, he was, and then gently nudged the toe of his boot into the crotch of my jeans while we were staring into each other's eyes. i thought about how leon had said that if i ever felt i wanted to explore feelings for other people i should but still felt guilty even though it felt good. a bunch of other drunk people burst into the kitchen at that point and i backed away from the cute boy. another guy, a big old bearded biker guy, came up and threw his arm around me and breathed beer fumes on me and said, "hey, christa! hey! how's it goin, you hot slut?" and the cute boy shouted at the top of his lungs, "SHE IS A SLUT! she just came on to me! i stuck my boot up her crotch!" and everyone started laughing and laughing and leon looked over from where he was playing with liam and looked hurt and confused and i ran out of there so fucking fast and still couldn't escape the crowds because the beach was thronging with millions of people and it was like this weird sunny-with-dark-gray-storm-clouds twilight and the sea was roiling and uninviting and i could see children being sucked out by the undertow but no one was paying any mind. and i tried to run but the sand was too deep and i kept hearing my knee clicking and finally i woke up.

mother's day mania

all the mamas with your hair spun round worry and your fingertips rubbed raw from loving!
all the mamas with your feet bound up in pinchy heels as you grace the plate of brunch and
accept all those flowers and wet kisses!
all the mamas with empty arms and swollen hearts!
all the mamas with frazzle-dazzle capabilities,
pulling off dinner parties on two hours sleep and sugary blue and pink birthday parties
where the guests throw grape pop on your carpet and scream into your oblivion headaches!
all the mamas with sore backs from trying eight different slings and wraps
sore knees from bending the wrong way cooing into a vomiting child's ear
sore minds from letting go of all self-absorption except for this one day a year!
i love you because i am you!
put up your weary feet and hang up your sleepy caps and let it all wash over you
just for today.
everything hinges on you and you should be permitted to crack up now and then and when it happens,
shit, girl,
i'm coming with you.

i had this crazy awesome dream last night that leon and i purchased this amazing castle-like home. it had four or five stories, and every floor was like it's own home unto itself. we lay for a while in the "ancient greece" bedroom where there was a bed carved out of white marble and next to the bed was this amazing carving of a tiny garden filled with satyrs and nymphs and if you watched long enough they'd all animate and music would play and they would dance and drink from the fountains and have sex with each other. the room was full of sunlight and there were no ceilings so you could look up and up and see stairs winding around to the top of the house itself and so we decided to explore more of our house. we walked up to the next level and it was designed and decorated like a "gentleman's club". wood paneled walls and a fully stocked bar and big comfy red velvet chairs and stone lion statues and a fire burning. we poured ourselves highballs and leon sat back in one of the chairs and started to try and cajole me into playing chess with him. i said no, that i wanted to go look around some more and i went around a corner and found the bathroom. my stepdad was in there, dressed in a janitor's grey-green jumpsuit, scrubbing the huge shower/tub area. "what are you doing here?!" i shouted at him. he looked up all dejected and said, "you hired me to clean for you, christa." and i was horrified, not so much that i hired him to clean for us, but because he was in my house at all, so i grabbed the hose he was using to spray off the tile walls and told him to take a hike and i would clean it myself.

i'd like to blame every ache i ever had on you
every failing every turn of anguished fate
i'd like to make you own it! me!
hand-me-down and passed around and oh, this bird has flown.
and when your phone stops ringing and all those girls stop singing
would you have me alone?
choking on rubber bands and dipping nipples
in mealy apples and
lifting off the muppet monster mask.
i walked along cedar chip paths and everything was orange rust
the sky, the light, the tight curly haired-calves
the ground, my skin, the state i'm in, every thing burnt umber crust
and it was warm and all of us, we frolicked and the baby cows
followed us until the path did end.
and when i crossed the threshold it was as though orange world had wheels
receded so quickly from my walking abilities it may as well have flown
we turned and faced ice land (not the country)
vin diesel lived in a bungalow basement suite in the house with wrought iron gates
and we laughed at his classless behaviour, so fucking pompous for a millionaire.
then suddenly you, and everyone, all walked ahead
and my knee was crumbling under me
and i couldn't navigate the stairs so caked in ice they were
so i tried to climb the brick and iron
and icicles melted under my hands but fell and penetrated my feet
bleeding ruddy ragged raw bullet holes through the million fragile bones
but so cold i couldn't feel a thing.
and you just kept moving on, around a bend on cobbled streets
and everywhere was snowing, and everywhere everywhere
ice was freezing on my hands and arms
i couldn't move fast enough
i felt the rubber band in my wind pipe
fluttering and sucking and finally inhaled,
that was how i died in all my dreams

ballad of the reluctant stalker

i stood outside the store and knew i wanted more and
worried either way how it would look
either i'm alone in how far gone or you have come along or
maybe we're both crazy, by the book.

i saw your empty face or your overflowing gaze but
ducked behind the corner before you caught me
i breathed in kind of hard and wondered and walked far and
talked myself way down, out in the alley.

what would you have done and could we be alone and
i wonder every moment if i'll lose you
they say "lay it on the line" or "once in a lifetime" but
i need to know you feel the same way i do.

and every single word and all the vows or curses and
how many times a day do i cross your mind?
i know your eyes so well and i look for ways to tell and
i feel i'll always come up short and from behind.

so i stood outside the store and i knew i wanted more but
i couldn't bring myself to wave hello
instead i walked real fast and left my breath upon the glass and
willed my heart to lift, slow, and go.

one afternoon i dreamed i was crouched against a marble wall in a bright white room. i couldn't open my eyes completely because it was so bright. i could hear voices coming through air ducts or vents or long hollow hallways - two people talking. one had a distinctly female sounding voice but the other was so garbled and multi-hued i could not tell if it had a gender, or not. i got on my hands and knees and crawled along the icy marble floors towards the voices. at first what they were saying was indistinguishable. but as i grew closer i could hear more clearly what their words were.

"has she woken yet?"

"not yet."

"she should wake, if she keeps coming so near, we'll have to include her."

"there are other ways."

"i don't believe you. you are always laying around in your deceit. i will try to wake her. she is too small for this."

i kept crawling and crawling, my eyes squinted shut against the light but open enough to make sure i didn't bump into any pillars or walls. i could feel i was naked, the air was frigid. i needed to see these people who were talking. i had the distinct impression they were talking about me.

as i rounded a wide corner i the change in air flow/pressure and the dimming of the echoes told me i'd come upon an enormous chamber, which was where the two were talking and also was the source of the incredible white light. i couldn't summon words to ask, i could barely open my eyes against the brightness, but i looked across as well as i could to see who they were.

"she's not awake. she's here. see there?"

the woman sighed. i could hear her stand up and walk towards me but still could not open my eyes completely, the light was coming in too sharply. i was shivering. i could sense/feel that she was a giantess as she approached me. then her form seemed to tower over me and i was dwarfed in her shadow. i looked up to see the most terrible and beatific face. her body was naked, so enlarged and solid and round. her hips were impossibly wide. her breasts did not dangle at all but were enormous and full as if ready for nursing infants. she did not speak directly to me at first.

"i knew we waited too long. now she has seen."

"there's nothing for it."

she leaned over and looked sternly at me. "you aren't supposed to be in here," she said. i could not form a response to tell her i didn't know how i'd gotten there in the first place. "wake up!" she shouted at me, and while her voice was angry i could hear it was affected, not genuine. she was trying to frighten me, scold me, like a child. i felt like a child. and despite her pseudo-furious demeanor i wanted her to pick me up. to press me against her solid, rolling body. i ducked my head low, trying to show respect, and did not speak. the other voice boomed as he also rose and came close to me. "girl, insolent!" the being shouted. this voice was much more serious and terrible. i didn't want to anger either of them really, but i had to look at the other giant as i had her. i took advantage of being in their engulfing shadows, the light dulled enough to see, and glanced up at the creature quickly. it was part goat. the head and hindquarters of a huge goat with twisted horns spiraling high towards the vaulted ceilings. a torso at once both male and female, with strong hard abdomen but swelling breasts, and muscled arms with deep rich fur. in it's left hand was clutched a gnarled staff of dried ivy wood. it was blaring at me.

"no sanctuary here!" it roared, "no sanctuary!"

this voice terrified me so much, i prostrated myself at their feet. i still could not speak to them to ask why or who or where i was. i felt at once scared out of my wits and desirious of their attention and affection. suddenly, the goat creature banged it's staff against the floor and the sound of the wood contacting the marble was impossibly loud and echoed so deeply through my body i had to cover my ears and curl into a ball and yell, but my voice was drowned out by the noise, and then i woke up.

my family, including my mom, and my friends, were all in japan together. it was the end of our trip. we were lost in the airport and couldn't figure out which gate to go to or when to board because all the signs and announcements were in japanese. then my mom figured it out and that we should have boared like a half hour before, and that the plane was leaving. she totally ditched me and my kids (liam was only about 3, and laurel was an infant) to run on the plane while i was trying to decide if i should wait for leon to come out of the bathroom and my friends to come back from the food court. i spotted one of my friends, and was yelling at him to hurry so that we could all get on the plane, when suddenly the japanese authorities grabbed him and told him he was under arrest for possession of marijuana. they were dragging him away as he was yelling at me to tell his wife where he was and what was happening and i started trying to fight with the cops to let him go but they pushed me just as they were getting in an elevator with him and i fell, holding on to baby laurel. as i lay on the ground, stunned, a strange man came up to us and tossed a little black gadget with different coloured buttons on it and some flashing lights and i realized it was a bomb detonator/device thing. i panicked and threw it as hard as i could away from me, got up, carrying a kid in each arm, and started running for the doors outside. but before i could get out, a huge explosion erupted from the gate where my mom had just got on the plane. i was thrown out through the plate glass windows, just as three more huge explosions rocked the airport. glass and chunks of cement were raining down out of the sky on us. i found myself laying on a cold, rocky beach with sparse patches of snow all around. i was cut on my hands and face and bleeding but my kids were okay. i was terrified that more explosions were going to happen and we'd have nowhere to hide, so i got up and tried to find a good place to cower. there was a rickety wooden boardwalk running along the side of another building near the airport. it was about a foot and a half off the rocky, snowy ground, so i squeezed under there with both kids and lay there, waiting for whatever was going on to pass. i guess i was in shock. i saw lots of people wandering around on the beach, bleeding and crying. i started crying too, as the realization that my mom and my friends and husband were probably all dead now and i was alone with my kids in a foreign country with no idea of where to go for help.

then suddenly i saw leon! he was walking along the beach, totally unscathed, yelling my name. my tears turned from grief to relief and i scootched out from under the boardwalk, yelling for him, too. he saw us and dashed across the beach towards us and picked up both the kids and kissed me a million times. i was so relieved and happy and tearful and upset. leon said that it was no big deal, we'd get to the canadian embassy or consulate or something, and they'd take care of us. we just had to find out how to get there. we saw a public transit bus pull up to a stop near the beach and ran towards it, yelling. the bus driver let us on and before we could even ask where his bus was going, he started pulling away and going up this HUGE mountain road. leon said, "hey man, can you let us off, please? we don't want this bus after all." the driver totally ignored him and kept going up this enormous cold mountain. leon started yelling, "come on! don't take us to the top! this is NOT the way we need to go! we don't want to have to walk all the way back down with our two little kids in this weather!" still the bus driver ignored him. leon went apeshit and started swinging around on the bars and kicking at the windows while i attacked the driver, punching and kicking at him. then i realized he was a crazy japanese android with no emotions or even the capability to discuss anything with us. he took us to the top of the snowy mountain, opened the doors, and ejected us, totally impassionate about it. we all sat down in a snowbank, me still bleeding everywhere, and cried.

boy

boy, would you like to come on my couch?
yes, i bet you would.
and in 25 minutes we could sum up
everything in our lives that is good.

boy, would you like to speak into my hair?
yes, i bet you would.
and in a single afternoon we could smell every smell
every scent, every vapor the heart says we should.

boy, would like to drink wine in my parlour?
yes, i bet you would.
and in a lost weekend we could taste every tannin
in chocolate and berries and the tender flesh of wood.

boy, i'm lost and i don't think you can find me.
no, i guess you can't.
and in less than a week i can rebound and reverberate
every last word, sentiment, every thought you've lent.