I’ve Missed You Again

I have no name.
They call me Mr. Dreadful
Or Arthur B. Silly, depending on the weather.

I wear swimming trunks with no pockets.
I doggie paddle through the River of Regret
With many minnows tickling my toes.

I can only afford half a casket if I die,
And my mother lives in a stone house
With no address or chimney.

She battles her way from the front to the back
And sings a mournful song when the sun falls.
We live in the most modern of times,

Yet weather balloons report nothing
But ancient dread and that the little frozen stones
That have always plagued us

Have moved on to a higher plain.
I have learned to hold my breath forever.
If it’s cold enough, I freeze in the ice

And children come from all over to sketch
My skeleton with its many fine folds,
Its do not disturb sign turned toward my heart.