November 9, 1998

the old man
            at night
sits on the
            wornout armchair
to watch the moon
            reflected on
the black & white
            TV screen

he sits & stares
            the lonely desolate place
full of extinct craters

February 27, 1999

the old man in black sits and waits
by the deserted railroad station

holding a plastic bag full of smoke
& dreams heavier than led
                                    the old man sits & waits
time passes
with gray poisonous dust filling the sky

slowly the old man gets up
forgetting the bag at the station
                                    his feet dragging along the side of the tracks
suddenly a train appears
filling the old man with a smoke cloud
                                    the train & the old man disappear

March 17, 1999

the old man says
                        when I was young
                        one summer night
                        I saw a spider
                        weaving an amazing
                        engineered silver web
                        under radiating electric light

                        when I was younger
                        I saw the running lizard
                        suddenly stop
                        in quick freeze motion
                        vanishing through
                        ancient limestone walls

                        when I was even younger
                        I saw wild horses on clouds
                        galloping over the open sky
                        projected from glass slides
                        through the magic lantern

                        bombs shattered the glass
                        filling my eyes with shocking vision
                        the sky covered with darkness
                       
                        now I watch kinescope reruns on TV
                        as the irreplaceable tubes are burning out