Look for secrets
the leaves caught in the amber,
age-old eyes
the tongue weighed
on your back teeth
how close the bones huddle for warmth
and the space the skin leaves to fill in
it makes sense
in how many times the shadows
of your statue multiply
the sentences you string
still lie along a plane
but one i didn't see before
the measured, poured sheet of their silences
A Room Not My Own
I've chosen a room not my own
other voices flicker along its walls
and crack like static across the ceiling
hot with their requests
cold with their forgetfulness
but it is my room
i lick the seals of the doors
i pad the mattress with more sleep
watch the cracks grow umbrage
awe the native shadows
I've chosen this room
1, 5, 12
other voices flicker along its walls
and crack like static across the ceiling
hot with their requests
cold with their forgetfulness
but it is my room
i lick the seals of the doors
i pad the mattress with more sleep
watch the cracks grow umbrage
awe the native shadows
I've chosen this room
1, 5, 12
Along the Spokes
no resolve
i've worn out my body
i've worn out my heart
pink with old blood
i've worn out time
hung on lines
washed, wrung, stiff
dislocated by the limbs
pushed apart and soldered
to the empty hole in a hub
no resolve
i fall along the spokes to this space
i've worn out my body
i've worn out my heart
pink with old blood
i've worn out time
hung on lines
washed, wrung, stiff
dislocated by the limbs
pushed apart and soldered
to the empty hole in a hub
no resolve
i fall along the spokes to this space
Winter Fly
the winter fly
on a lamp shade
it lived this long
for this
to be seen
to die against light
its wings a new shade
to read by
on a lamp shade
it lived this long
for this
to be seen
to die against light
its wings a new shade
to read by
The Day After Day
Like smoke attracted to bodies
it unmans us
unsalts us
only pale food between us
your mint tongue
my ash throat
my favorite feast
the flame leans toward glass.
I am a rich man
sucking Lazarus' finger
in what must be
the day after day.
1, 5, 2012
it unmans us
unsalts us
only pale food between us
your mint tongue
my ash throat
my favorite feast
the flame leans toward glass.
I am a rich man
sucking Lazarus' finger
in what must be
the day after day.
1, 5, 2012
All the Ancient of Days
the small of my back is made of wrenches
i imagine yours of wrens
my wrists and elbows clock hands
and yours cracked marble
my neck of broken limbs
and yours of barnacles
my face is of dust
yours must be of spit
my insides made of time
and yours of all the days
1, 5, 12
i imagine yours of wrens
my wrists and elbows clock hands
and yours cracked marble
my neck of broken limbs
and yours of barnacles
my face is of dust
yours must be of spit
my insides made of time
and yours of all the days
1, 5, 12
In the Small and Still
i'm quieter
did you wait for this
i'm back inside
you're so polite
after all the notes
and lists
and orders
i've taken
i've taken refuge now
you can pass
i won't ask
more than your palm
more than your back
jan 5, 2012
did you wait for this
i'm back inside
you're so polite
after all the notes
and lists
and orders
i've taken
i've taken refuge now
you can pass
i won't ask
more than your palm
more than your back
jan 5, 2012
So Help You God
Go on unfold
a waxed map in your hands
you pen its insides
you spell its name
you fear what you've made
as if it's empty, it stays
mountain on mountain
wood stuck into wood
wildgrass against wildgrass
ingrown in creases.
Your hand on its cover
a vow a curse of truth
you swear to tell
and nothing but.
jan 5, 2012
a waxed map in your hands
you pen its insides
you spell its name
you fear what you've made
as if it's empty, it stays
mountain on mountain
wood stuck into wood
wildgrass against wildgrass
ingrown in creases.
Your hand on its cover
a vow a curse of truth
you swear to tell
and nothing but.
jan 5, 2012
Sway
The wind is patient in the dark
giving in to trees
holding them
rocking them
darkly
as their own shadows would
singing nothing
as it is all to say
aspirating
into their coming sobs
rocking their limbs in hers
the little ones
thought themselves big this year
sway all the way
to where their trunks spread
over the ground
and probably on
the wind
gives up to the trees
to rock them, darkly.
jan 5, 2012
giving in to trees
holding them
rocking them
darkly
as their own shadows would
singing nothing
as it is all to say
aspirating
into their coming sobs
rocking their limbs in hers
the little ones
thought themselves big this year
sway all the way
to where their trunks spread
over the ground
and probably on
the wind
gives up to the trees
to rock them, darkly.
jan 5, 2012
Another Breath Poem
Breath
sickled scythed
and bound
to be baled
tindered
and whetted
turned into basins
to hold new breath
tall and swaying
from bare slain
bodies asleep
1, 4, 12
sickled scythed
and bound
to be baled
tindered
and whetted
turned into basins
to hold new breath
tall and swaying
from bare slain
bodies asleep
1, 4, 12
The Rounds
Her face is a clock
as is his
overlayed on one another
the clicks they make
the twisting gears
all seen
in sync and out
pale and dark and audible
as they make the rounds.
jan 4, 12
as is his
overlayed on one another
the clicks they make
the twisting gears
all seen
in sync and out
pale and dark and audible
as they make the rounds.
jan 4, 12
Odyssian
the sins i'll sing
to my children
will be odyssian
and plenty.
their ears will fill
with marvels
and revel
enough to send their dreams ashambling.
my days will march
loose hems they'll catch
and when they stop for breath
my children will still be itching.
jan4, 12
to my children
will be odyssian
and plenty.
their ears will fill
with marvels
and revel
enough to send their dreams ashambling.
my days will march
loose hems they'll catch
and when they stop for breath
my children will still be itching.
jan4, 12
Bunsen
the way
to cool a heated iron
is to hold it to your chest
by both hands
your body needing
always lapping heat
will take the burn in
pore by pore
until the material
is innocuous to your grip
what is not tinder is flint.
jan 4, 12
to cool a heated iron
is to hold it to your chest
by both hands
your body needing
always lapping heat
will take the burn in
pore by pore
until the material
is innocuous to your grip
what is not tinder is flint.
jan 4, 12
Levitation
leaves, piles, burn high
if it can be called fire
rather smoke twine, ghost thread
spindle rise
mortar, pestle
crush steeped
shadows of trees
against our bodies lying by.
dec 22, 11
if it can be called fire
rather smoke twine, ghost thread
spindle rise
mortar, pestle
crush steeped
shadows of trees
against our bodies lying by.
dec 22, 11
Christmas Night
The house behind me
behind a door shut just nearly
whirs - deaf and deafening.
here
i hear geese
coyotes
street lamps sentient
have i moved outside of this
or has it moved from outside of me?
dec 25, 11
behind a door shut just nearly
whirs - deaf and deafening.
here
i hear geese
coyotes
street lamps sentient
have i moved outside of this
or has it moved from outside of me?
dec 25, 11
Chaser
what you've said
is what you would
but what you will
will be what i taste
without these words
to wash them down
dec 23, 2011
is what you would
but what you will
will be what i taste
without these words
to wash them down
dec 23, 2011
One Million
you have one million shadows
slightly resembling you
your lines
and planes
your neck
and collarbones
when you build your fire
when you lean your face to it
when you blow evenly under its ribs
and sit at its feet
in this light
you are a million
and one
Sept 10, 2011
slightly resembling you
your lines
and planes
your neck
and collarbones
when you build your fire
when you lean your face to it
when you blow evenly under its ribs
and sit at its feet
in this light
you are a million
and one
Sept 10, 2011
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