the return of Jefferson, thunderlizard; the death of latrobe, king of glut

so for those of you who've been keeping up with the incredibly uninteresting saga of pets at the elks lounge, you'll know that our newest and smartest edition, jefferson the lizard, had figured out the seams in his "cage" and broken free to face the dangers of inclement may weather, voracious felines and, hopefully, a lack of sizeable bugs in our walls.

yesterday he was found

he appeared as silently as he'd gone and
all of a sudden
LOOK ON THE FUCKING RADIATOR GRATE
(our apartment does not utilize radiator heat, but the grate blocks an unsightly hole in the wall where some of the wood has turned)

tania snatched him up
half dead for the second time
like jesus!
since she found him in a crate
like moses!
that she'd pulled from a walk-in freezed
like encino man!

a cricket later
he is ours again

slightly more obedient

and we are a family again

---
have you ever seen a dried frog
as sun expands and ozone erodes
his everything that was outside will become in
his stomach will suck into his lungs and his eyes will recede
resembling more a prune
than a thing with a heart
the size of a chiclet
a little green prune with webbed strands
a vicious little fossil

we switched the bulb on Latrobe's lamp
Latrobe is dead
long live Latrobe

now. there are enough crickets. for the rest of us.