what people say there

broken swing creaking around
sound of police cars whooshing up in fleets of directional formation
split level houses with the paint chips not to be seen
the husks of five thousand corpses and the Angelus
as the storm trooper DEA squad disbands to the doorbell
the camera crew zooms onto the sign:
Beware of dog?
(feat shot-gun)
beware of owner
it's the smoking gun of the grim-faced green meth cooker
the arrestee spotted washing his house with a stripped-down barrel
hours before
San Fresno is the city of lies, the crystal meth addiction flourishes
snort smoke shoot slam 20 dime bags 700 dollars a week
the west best coast more sincerely impounded with skinny, slaw-jawed yokels
in a terminology that no less febrile
the academic language is dehumanizing
the little chiquawa dog is chirping
the man has arms tattooed in script the typefaces of the capitalists
reminds me of the UAW gods, chickweed pits, the unfiltered cigarettes
one wary eye upon the green sky camera
a liter of cobra snake gutted like serpent spine
a lime floating on top of the beer bottle
this caustic dude from the BBC is interviewing the meth heads on their cracked out porch
like this accent denotes anything to them except the vast disdain of their listening public
in rural San Fresno, they would not have heard it any other way
as his voice ebbs over the police scanner
this is not anthropology, this crime scene surveillance
they could understand you, but not your accent
you might be living in a plateau there, buddy, but they recognize your tone enough
to hate you
to tell you how many children they have
the state of their marital affairs
their complicity reveals the malingerer of the impervious stare of a judicial system that seethes
they slouch, avoid eye contact, pass the drugs and scale over their heads
much like the prescient scales of the Law and Order dramedy
the cookers, he does a circle around his head, you don't mess with them
you're crazy, man
they inhale leaky cauldron fumes
Fresno is the meth capital of the world
since 11 he's been slammin
where did they just come from, man, thank you man, someone's house
silver stereos houses

you just haven't seen the better places
it's gotten a whole lot worse
it's gotten a whole lot worse
this is one of the better place
I hate not being clean but I hate being clean
it has to do with a single instant in time
to be treated or put in prison and you start to like yourself
you treat yourself well
64% of meth addicts complete, how many are sober is unknown
cook it, sell it make some money
take care of your family
it takes care of you
decide to take a quit