Gotham City

reborn vultures create mischief in Birmingham
with abandoned parachute and excessive tattoos
selling insurance against bad weather and bad luck
homeless scarecrows in corduroy search the trash
for empty lipsticks and worn memories
foghorns signal mildew in the night

police battle inner demons on weekends
in a thick soup of deserted hotels
forsaken church and abandoned lighthouse
autumn's vague prophesy delivers emptiness
at the doorstep of her beloved
weary evangelists call for repentance
and foghorns whisper secret passwords and jade status

torpedoes head for the opera house in full formation
angels get wings trimmed in barbershop quartets
blind whales flounder through treacherous currents
of underground lakes and rivers
even as salmon swim the canals on Mars
the morning is dank and hung-over
as smoke from junkyard tugboats
and foghorns speak to passing ships in their own language

Monday's desolate sun sets on abandoned coffins
jazz musicians stand beside corrupt snake charmers
worthless confessions spill out of rusted horns
cold lanterns illuminate nervous encounters in subway tunnels
gypsies cry obscure and foreign spells
and foghorns play ambient hymns for zombie weddings

pinstripe chain gang swings the hammer in bad neighborhoods
accident-prone clowns sing the blues from disappointed balcony
to an aimless congregation of shaggy mutts and old propellers
gargoyles patrol the sky looking for food
and foghorns signal a call to prayer at the appointed hour

green limousines roam the street in frozen weather
detectives inspect strawberry rhinestones in a warehouse elevator
cheerleaders way past their prime assemble in vacant lots
foghorns breathe clouds of gloom in the cathedral
sigh cranberry sadness over the city
sing velvet songs of lost love

… and foghorns mourn for creeping and forgotten dreams

—Charles Kasler