it was darkening outside as he opened the beer and threw his old body on the rocking chair There was no TV in his house "It shows people,” he'd said. "An' I can't stand them.” He poured the beer into a glass and started rocking back and forth into his chair, looking at nothing and enjoying it When it was completely dark, the black cat came into the house through the hole in the broken window a limp gray fish big as a fallen leaf glistened in its mouth, reflecting the full moon outside "Welcome back,” he said to the cat as it laid the fish on the carpet near his feet and rolled on its back, exposing its belly He took the fish and smelled it and tossed it into the beer and shook the glass "Thank you,” he said. "That's enough protein for today.” He leaned forward in…

she’s got this big

lizard

that I don’t

even know the name of

and walks

it around in a

baby stroller

“It needs the sun,” she

says. “And it

needs me as her mother.”

When she’s not at her

dish-washing job

at the two-star restaurant

she’s scouting

the local park,

looking for trees with bird nests

to steal the eggs

or even better,

the chicks

and feed them to the

big lizard

Not exactly the crime

to send one

behind the bars

but she did

get in

some trouble for it

“I never liked the scent

of peeling scales,”

she said, “until I

smelt it on her belly,

between her hind legs.

If you haven’t

seen angels

before,

you are invited to look

upon her

beauty. Please only

look, don’t touch.”

“Yeah,” I said, “she’s pretty

nice. What’s

her name?”

But instead of answering

she said,