Wear

Clouds come on in watercolor
two parts paint, one spit
rust washing this place
making us ask
are the holes in our eyes
picked like the holes in our teeth
growing, filling,
wearing away again

oct 30, 11

Motion

i walked with the wind
watched a train trundle
heavy with metal
when it was gone
the grass roared its echo
then laid itself to rest
pulled an onion from its undertow
peeled it to a stone
walked away with the shakes

oct 30, 11

The Hush Hush

Come the barely lit days
the lambent season flickers out
with only wind to take its place
come the barely moved mouths.
Come the sky husked
translucent and spent
come the dark hush
whisper bent
come the hours used up
the urgency they lend.
Lips cracked deep in the center
with quiet
slowly cooling cinders.

oct 30, 2011

To-Do

tuck your hair up
walk your ways
touch the trees
watch the headlights come through clouds
take your time
wear out this light as it leaves
hardening, draining
into ground, nest, sculpted sky
leaving you with only pages intact
and stamps
and metallic breath
leaves you with your bare eyes

oct 29, 2011

Picking Paths

picking paths
away from here
this city, its mad mumble
coming when called
to talk nonsense,
neat, perpendicular town,
at my elbow
smoothing my hair
checking for fever

Oct 28, 2011

Gloss

if there was only so much breath
and a whir of fire under a kettle
to be heard over
would the truth bother with this wrapper
and string
or spill
not even into hands
just out and on
as blood or spit or sweat
a mess cohesive
denying its own pattern
until looked into

The Tells

we wait for rain to pass
but as it streams between the world
and here, our tells become
easy to recognize, all akindle

our own limbs

already burned to embers

grounded reasons
gathered for tender
and nothing left to add
just the hours until
the rain has passed

oct 18, 2011

Not Now

don't look now
the days gone
are catching up
coming around
flashing teeth
shaking hands
the agreements made
are out of date
no time lost
showing up here
out of place
catching my eye
making like a stranger
with new friends

oct 18, 2011

Crook

many times
the windows are cracked
and leaned into until collapse
the silent downfall of a dancer
very little is taken
many times
the locks are pried
the bolt rolls over and clicks
gentle force like a suggestion
but the cheat passes the night
on the steps
never understanding the house
trembles with want.

oct 16, 2011

Vintage

the words of my mouth
backed by breath and sound
are distilled and aged in
cool cellars in the ground
not spent not spilled
to mud tilled in
underfoot and only taken as
undistinguished earth to be scraped
from your favorite soles
on a day without date

If Ever You Need

nearby i keep
an open road
and though i cleared it myself
you may mistake it for
the nocturnal path of an animal
it never crosses another
it leads to water
gentle at the banks
hungry in the deeps
i keep it clear enough to follow
near enough to take
if ever you need

oct 9, 2011

At the Stake

when work doesn't come

as it should

the body pushes through,

making motion through a sieve

and the line left slack

catches and knots

the nothing seems hard,

begins to feel like work again. 

but blood doesn't move

it catches in bruises

around which all my effort folds in.

to make something true

the body must be staked

and burned and turned out

into ground or ink or soot

a material suitable for work. 

oct 9, 2011

Fever

hips have a basin
to carry weight
not seen
to receive risen waters
broken levees
to make room, open, nearby
to keep the bones taut
broken relics
hips have a basin
so there will be a desert to wander
to burn by day
empty
and shudder by night
empty

oct 9, 2011