Sunday, February 10, 2019

Poems By James D. Casey IV


James D. Casey IV is the author of six full-length collections of poetry, and Founder/Editor-in-Chief of Cajun Mutt Press. His work has also been extensively published by small press venues and literary magazines including Outlaw Poetry Network, Mad Swirl, Zombie Logic Review, Oddball Magazine, Beatnik Cowboy, Medusa's Kitchen, Triadæ Magazine, Clockwise Cat, and several others internationally. James is a southern poet with roots in Louisiana & Mississippi, currently residing in Illinois with his Beautiful Muse, their retarded dog, and two black cats.

Links to his books and other projects can be found here :



In a Band in the Rain in my Head

floating through the
Hall of Mystics
living in a dream
within a dream

slipping between realities
from planet to planet
star to star
dancing the dance of
a thousand sorrows

and the joy of
never living in one
reality 
for too long
so I don't get bored
running from the shadows
on cold nights under
chrome and glass

using regions of the
brain seldom used
feeling like a bad connection
to a whisper in the dark

here there is something
stronger than a hallucination

imagining I’m a changeling
imagining I’m a cyborg
imagining I’m a devil
imagining I’m a god
imagining I’m a poet
imagining I’m a postcard
imagining I’m a candle
imagining I’m crazy

keeping it all inside
loving every minute of it

in a band
in the rain
in my head

playing strange instruments
no one’s ever seen
let alone heard

it gets weird sometimes
but I love weird

once I caught myself dancing
to This Must be the Place
by David Byrne 
on repeat
wearing a big strap-on dildo 
carrying a butcher knife
slashing and fucking the air
to the beat

when things get crazy
all you can do is go with the flow
jump over the edge

the less we say about it
the better

imagine opening a window
imagine opening a door
imagine opening time

and stepping inside

when you can’t tell
one god from another

no skin color
no creed
no war

time isn’t holding us
time isn’t after us

just pale soulful light beings
from different planets
in this crazy magick ceremony
called life
in so many different dimensions
same as it ever was


Two by Two by Two

Blown mind slaves
upon the midnight hour,
in static
gone mad.
Lost in medicine chants.
Worshiping a liquid moon.
Here,
on lunar dunes,
no ordinary world.
A rotting deity
plays maracas
underneath a crystal
sombrero.
Dreaming
about the children of
cat people
with chatoyant eyes,
furtive
yet alluring.

Calling out lissome beings,
otherworldly,
from in-between the mortar
of an evocatively bricked 
labyrinth. 

All standing
in a crooked line,
two by two
by two,
outside a wrought iron gate
in the land of Nod.

The entrance
to the final realm.
Here between reality and 
the devil's playground.
Most lack the wherewithal
made of fool's gold
to pay the cover fee, but
not this fool, I just so happen 
to be a card-carrying member.


Tripped the Light Fantastic

A cosmic rendezvous
At the Devil's Thumb
A seedy bar & grill
On the south side of the Milky Way
With alien gangsters from X Nibiru

They demanded to speak with the manager
Because their meat was undercooked
Mine was just fine
But then
Of course
I was high on space junk

The pink is better than the white
Good shit I tell ya

The manager man
If that's what you'd call it
Arrived at our table
With pug dog eyes
Protruding from a 
Thumb-like head
Speaking in clicks & whistles

My friends shot him on the spot
Killed him dead

They all laughed
I laughed along
Even though my blood
Felt like green jello

Fear is a funny thing

They threw a chunk of gold
Onto the table
Tipped the waitress
With some of the pink junk
And we tripped the light fantastic
Riding a shooting star
Down to the next whiskey bar

Gotta love those space gangsters
They keep it interesting for sure
But at that point
I knew
I was in way over my head



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