252. The deviant prankster

(or)
the dangers of boredom

(or)
the comfort of multiple standards


oh, god bless us!
he looks bored

that can be
dangerous

---

remember
the last time he was
bored
he peeled the painted black shadows
off the city streets
and
left behind
freckled infant moons
on the pavements

the moons
shrieked gleefully
like banshees
all night
and pooped
dew and star dust
all over the sky courtyard

we had to charge him
a fine
to compensate
for the new black veil
we bought
to hide the starry sky

---

and there was
the time when
he plucked -
all echoing silences,
and jarring politeness,
and charred sense -
off conversations
and confabulations

there were
jazz songs
sung at annual investor meets
shocking the stock market

and, of course
who can forget the
soft porn in the evening news bulletin?!

who knew
news and annual reports are,
but confabulations?!

---

and last winter
he hunted
dreamy hearts
clad in boring grey caution,
winked at them,
and sent them
down a love spiral

ah, the fights and the divorces
all over the city

we had to
banish him
from the city for a bit,
for upsetting the moral fabric
of the society

how he laughed at
us
and winked again?!

so adorably

I remember 
the predictably uneventful season
that followed

sshhhh!!
don't say that

---

not to forget
the season when
he chased and stole the ocean waves
because he was so done
with contemporary fashion,
and stepped out
wearing salty foam pearls
and nothing else

ah, the traffic jams
lasted for months
and we had to charge him
with indecent exposure

and he turned up at the hearing
donning nothing
but butterfly rainbows

what a sight?!

---

anyways
we should be careful
he could outrage our decorum
and upset our honor
again

so we ought to reject
his anticipatory bail

of course
why deprive ourselves of
a hearing?!

---

god bless us!
he looks
so viciously bored

if I were you
I would not step out
tonight

and if I were you
I so would;
and I think I will