there is a bay
filled with the lights of his whole life
it is night
while he moves and shakes here
and day late into his night
promises make him live this way
when his imagination clouds with memory
he watches the ellipse from a tourist camera
twenty-four hour post
while it is still light here
even, he looks,
recognizes the lights
but mostly, in deep early mornings
when sleep is of less worth
than watching a lone swimmer
arrive, strip, and disappear
porto germeno
box
i cannot hurry
every fever i
remember
every layer
wrapped around a finger
stare at me and marvel
my wild concentration
reverent wander
i remember every breach
so as to shut you
again behind me
jan, 09
every fever i
remember
every layer
wrapped around a finger
stare at me and marvel
my wild concentration
reverent wander
i remember every breach
so as to shut you
again behind me
jan, 09
the one with broken hips
loose from the joint but faking it
believing in but all the while
mourning the miles the extra miles
she swore silently to see through
believing in but all the while
mourning the miles the extra miles
she swore silently to see through
flying kazoos
geese come this morning, bellow expletive
joy noosed at the neck
regardless how linear they strain
geese, for the thrill of pain, force
learned praise
through their bodies like kazoos
joy noosed at the neck
regardless how linear they strain
geese, for the thrill of pain, force
learned praise
through their bodies like kazoos
for scattering our nights
the birds do not wake
but keep me up
harassing: you are not sleeping
be honest
late for the dawn
my lasting winter friend, the willow
captures the moon for a heart
i can hardly walk
knowing her fate within the hour
past the hundred rowed eclipses
sowed orchard
between me and the liquid horizon
if every one has been lifted to purgatory
and i reserved for some colder wake
reserved to remember how hands smell up close,
i accept the empty robes to pray
nothing to say i repeat
your name, not the one, but them all
a prophet once showed me this use for names
under the high beamed morning the dog and i sit
my eyes sore as a rainbow slick
she blinks slow: like this
be filled with light through warehouse panes
smeared, broad, warming pianos
where they wait
a vision come of honeycomb
quiet as it yawned awake
stocked with swarm, not from fear
but a population kept warm in dream
ceremony over i touch the willow's breastbone on my way
resting her wings, empty
but she does not weep
but keep me up
harassing: you are not sleeping
be honest
late for the dawn
my lasting winter friend, the willow
captures the moon for a heart
i can hardly walk
knowing her fate within the hour
past the hundred rowed eclipses
sowed orchard
between me and the liquid horizon
if every one has been lifted to purgatory
and i reserved for some colder wake
reserved to remember how hands smell up close,
i accept the empty robes to pray
nothing to say i repeat
your name, not the one, but them all
a prophet once showed me this use for names
under the high beamed morning the dog and i sit
my eyes sore as a rainbow slick
she blinks slow: like this
be filled with light through warehouse panes
smeared, broad, warming pianos
where they wait
a vision come of honeycomb
quiet as it yawned awake
stocked with swarm, not from fear
but a population kept warm in dream
ceremony over i touch the willow's breastbone on my way
resting her wings, empty
but she does not weep
save our ship
breaker dawn.
wrecked ashore.
salvaged bow.
stern.
every splinter.
darned the rest with drift.
wrecked ashore.
salvaged bow.
stern.
every splinter.
darned the rest with drift.
history of january
the history of january
myself unfamiliar
not someone i could easily
talk to
inhabit
slunk off to strange hemispheres
more home when away
every january
i find myself
lost
myself unfamiliar
not someone i could easily
talk to
inhabit
slunk off to strange hemispheres
more home when away
every january
i find myself
lost
behalf
truth is a secret kept for someone else
less raised and unnatural, duller
than the nightmare of truth
because the blade had been sharp - a mercy -
the cut dazzled without pressure
until the inside made out
truth and all
secret and all
wetter, darker, it looked deep
giddy, all senses nurse the gash
how to understand
a wound in the back
near the spine
blade between blades
the position of
the past caught up
sliding its edge in long enough
to tell the truth.
car sick in snow
snow scabs black flank and face
wise men tip from rock slick
with flare light
over baby jesus braided in a basket fastened
to a hole black river
blueing key
in a stuck lock
wise men tip from rock slick
with flare light
over baby jesus braided in a basket fastened
to a hole black river
blueing key
in a stuck lock
make sense
one breath takes in another
the hungriest sense
taste intentions, states
one ear put to another
the starving sense
hear an ocean overhead
but eyes crushed closed
the nauseating sense
until time to focus, to keep late watch
over one still center
the hungriest sense
taste intentions, states
one ear put to another
the starving sense
hear an ocean overhead
but eyes crushed closed
the nauseating sense
until time to focus, to keep late watch
over one still center
come she will
on easter
frets mangled in song
ribs reshaped
tenderized, boiled
bent around this new thing
frets mangled in song
ribs reshaped
tenderized, boiled
bent around this new thing
seeing ducks
in the excess
rainbow river
fractal flash
and shimmer strata
they were common
only alive
now all that world
threshed to stalk
they are anything but common
the only alive
impossible necks sluice dried blood water
come up shining
more marvelous for the shadows
rolling off beak and eye
rainbow river
fractal flash
and shimmer strata
they were common
only alive
now all that world
threshed to stalk
they are anything but common
the only alive
impossible necks sluice dried blood water
come up shining
more marvelous for the shadows
rolling off beak and eye
mothfox
crepe and ashes
salt stung lashes
gnawed from matchsticks
sung low for latches
left open
counted upon
to rust eventually
in kissing humidity
feb, 2014
salt stung lashes
gnawed from matchsticks
sung low for latches
left open
counted upon
to rust eventually
in kissing humidity
feb, 2014
last chocolate
very last mound of christmas fudge
last flush,
sugar, chili, warm
mumble in the ears
up under wound neck
cold packed
mouth shut at the lips
opened at the teeth
opened at the tongue
cupping air
to that last cinder
kept from turning stone
in the throat.
feb, 2014
mulberry
on my way
a black mulberry branch
some too early blossom
pared from late winter
i thumbed its knots for a rosary
until my hands smelled wrist to nail
of that specific chemical consequence
the old turned live again
in hands tender with first calluses
a black mulberry branch
some too early blossom
pared from late winter
i thumbed its knots for a rosary
until my hands smelled wrist to nail
of that specific chemical consequence
the old turned live again
in hands tender with first calluses
deeper snow
she takes her grey bow of a body
in search of deeper snow
sneezing at the scent
she does not need sight
or much sense
to trail the blank depths
to understand the importance of snow.
in search of deeper snow
sneezing at the scent
she does not need sight
or much sense
to trail the blank depths
to understand the importance of snow.
get well
again i dreamt
i was in your hospital
eventually you had to come -
i was a patient after all
you fell ill upon entering
laid in a bed next to mine
i kissed your eyes and nose and ears
and between told you
i tried i swore
but forgive me
i could not get well
i was in your hospital
eventually you had to come -
i was a patient after all
you fell ill upon entering
laid in a bed next to mine
i kissed your eyes and nose and ears
and between told you
i tried i swore
but forgive me
i could not get well
from one invertebrate to another
cicada shake down
sucked from armor
mouthless slept and dreamt
multitudes and states
up scales down hatches
a core with instincts
prey and die
pleasure the perishing
making sugar from velveteen
music from whoring
making want and wishing
to dredge the wanting.
sucked from armor
mouthless slept and dreamt
multitudes and states
up scales down hatches
a core with instincts
prey and die
pleasure the perishing
making sugar from velveteen
music from whoring
making want and wishing
to dredge the wanting.
lasso
kingdom of god
where vultures black
circle tighter, answer
knotted light.
comb marrow
survey the kingdom for
strangers ready for
answers.
we wanderers live
lob interruptions
through lowering shadows.
where vultures black
circle tighter, answer
knotted light.
comb marrow
survey the kingdom for
strangers ready for
answers.
we wanderers live
lob interruptions
through lowering shadows.
the mad month
February, you come on
in prayers and licks
removing the hinges on locked knees
the spirit falls toward you
but the body pulls back
you grind the sky out
shake your cuffs of the ash.
February, you come on
in sojourns and suns
smacking flat imagined worlds
complete without space and time to cross
smacking mouths dry
you rattle the compass
roll cardinals in your palm like dice.
February, you come on
in sutures and teeth
bind up wounds that need to breathe
and biting out seams
come to count as bones
you measure pulse for temperature
and not for speed.
in prayers and licks
removing the hinges on locked knees
the spirit falls toward you
but the body pulls back
you grind the sky out
shake your cuffs of the ash.
February, you come on
in sojourns and suns
smacking flat imagined worlds
complete without space and time to cross
smacking mouths dry
you rattle the compass
roll cardinals in your palm like dice.
February, you come on
in sutures and teeth
bind up wounds that need to breathe
and biting out seams
come to count as bones
you measure pulse for temperature
and not for speed.
collateral
i prayed the sky would break apart
you confessed, you prayed the world
hordes of wasps beat inside
only snow can campaign in such numbers
they gather, pressing toward our voices
inward and out
buzzing threat
gusts of nightlong marvel
we prayed gently, but with power: battle
and this morning, i'm not sure what's left
it will take some weeks to know
we sat so still
rigid conductors of defeat and hope
any collateral
will shake loose from us slow
so we prepare to move
finally, you go - seeming whole enough
so i go - whole enough as well
only, here in the path,
a perfect graphite bird
pressed in snow
her open eye reflecting sky white.
you confessed, you prayed the world
hordes of wasps beat inside
only snow can campaign in such numbers
they gather, pressing toward our voices
inward and out
buzzing threat
gusts of nightlong marvel
we prayed gently, but with power: battle
and this morning, i'm not sure what's left
it will take some weeks to know
we sat so still
rigid conductors of defeat and hope
any collateral
will shake loose from us slow
so we prepare to move
finally, you go - seeming whole enough
so i go - whole enough as well
only, here in the path,
a perfect graphite bird
pressed in snow
her open eye reflecting sky white.
recount
this is
the story of my skin.
its underpinning,
nerve and furnace iron,
cannot be told,
given, received.
a sheathed world
only shared
in those dreams
without skin
the story of my skin.
its underpinning,
nerve and furnace iron,
cannot be told,
given, received.
a sheathed world
only shared
in those dreams
without skin
to the river
to assume and assign
the names of every rill
would drain the senses
supporting the liquid world
me with it
leaving a column
ancient salt
licked clean of savor
i won't gather words
translating dream
as if you
had turned concrete
pillar yourself
we
skeletons of the universe
its ribs and vertebrae
our bodies dreams
not broken by names.
the names of every rill
would drain the senses
supporting the liquid world
me with it
leaving a column
ancient salt
licked clean of savor
i won't gather words
translating dream
as if you
had turned concrete
pillar yourself
we
skeletons of the universe
its ribs and vertebrae
our bodies dreams
not broken by names.
derring do
let's do some deep dreaming
let's do those flying kind
those jumping from heights
no landing kind
that time you shook
until all the sand of your mind
settled in your legs
and you felt more solid
than ever
that kind
the one where
you breathed water
for miles
and saw water
and spoke and were water
for miles
let's dream again that time
i recognized you by your dress
of severed feathers
you recognized the mud
in my fur
added together and good
even before the sum
let's do that kind of dreaming
the ages of midnight
worlds on worlds
and not these scoops
of flaking despair
too thin to grow
and too shallow to bury anything
let's do those flying kind
those jumping from heights
no landing kind
that time you shook
until all the sand of your mind
settled in your legs
and you felt more solid
than ever
that kind
the one where
you breathed water
for miles
and saw water
and spoke and were water
for miles
let's dream again that time
i recognized you by your dress
of severed feathers
you recognized the mud
in my fur
added together and good
even before the sum
let's do that kind of dreaming
the ages of midnight
worlds on worlds
and not these scoops
of flaking despair
too thin to grow
and too shallow to bury anything
honest
i have been
white on white
cloud shadow
over snow
breathing through the gap
as a drowned body
is taught to breathe again
white on white
cloud shadow
over snow
breathing through the gap
as a drowned body
is taught to breathe again
the crew
squirrels unfurl,
tendons
hitching heaven
to earth,
maintaining
trunks of deadwood rope,
drop
from balloon
to basket
around our flat,
unsteady feet.
tendons
hitching heaven
to earth,
maintaining
trunks of deadwood rope,
drop
from balloon
to basket
around our flat,
unsteady feet.
horse hair
handfuls of her hair
coarse and exactly elastic
as the hours
long but not forever
and the ends are finest
as they ruin
your knuckles
there will never be much to say
about her
coarse and exactly elastic
as the hours
long but not forever
and the ends are finest
as they ruin
your knuckles
there will never be much to say
about her
breakfast fire
one scent, specific
as the crease in a palm,
pressed under cloudcover
brought here, or sent
folded in atmosphere:
sachet of salt
sleepworn skin
tea behind teeth
and tongue
swelling over coal
fire breakfast
bowl, thicker
than the belly it fills
and
the room sucked
of air but our breath
traded
atom for atom
and
the pulse left blue
but boiled
for fuel.
prayer furnace
stacks of hands
dry together
lichen and termites
drop from wrists
die together
saps age
mould and tannins
season under fingernails
rest the furies
fade the black effort
down to concentric prints
squint games
better the enemy you know
circle me ankle, waist, neck deep
grey silk water, most familiar fear
resting as one can over the jaw of another
squinting, my only game, playing
this is not this, but that
bones clotting the mud bottom
logs, all logs. washed clean. left after storms
squinting to see it. squinting until shut.
in that new dark dream
light the color of lake
bones aright themselves
assemble seaworthy raft and mast
lift me up like kin. we glow like kin
i offer my skin
sail the lake indifferent
to storm or light
circle me ankle, waist, neck deep
grey silk water, most familiar fear
resting as one can over the jaw of another
squinting, my only game, playing
this is not this, but that
bones clotting the mud bottom
logs, all logs. washed clean. left after storms
squinting to see it. squinting until shut.
in that new dark dream
light the color of lake
bones aright themselves
assemble seaworthy raft and mast
lift me up like kin. we glow like kin
i offer my skin
sail the lake indifferent
to storm or light
not a believer
not a believer not
a marcher not
onward nor upward nor
further nor
in
no scribe no
orator no
translator no
scholar no
judge nor juror no
but a tea reader but
a star reader but
a palm
a card
a handwriting
reader but
a body
a breath
a vibration
across rooms
and skin
drug bow
on string
reader
but a reader
a marcher not
onward nor upward nor
further nor
in
no scribe no
orator no
translator no
scholar no
judge nor juror no
but a tea reader but
a star reader but
a palm
a card
a handwriting
reader but
a body
a breath
a vibration
across rooms
and skin
drug bow
on string
reader
but a reader
spilled milk
if you woke from a nap blind,
would you whip your ears to twin peaks
summiting high over your head
and lean against the world's thighs
rubbing your rump against its belly
would you pump the air through longer tunnels
scraping every mite against your handkerchief of cells
test every follicle of stone or wool for flavor
or would you bawl
water those roots
shriveled as spilled milk?
would you whip your ears to twin peaks
summiting high over your head
and lean against the world's thighs
rubbing your rump against its belly
would you pump the air through longer tunnels
scraping every mite against your handkerchief of cells
test every follicle of stone or wool for flavor
or would you bawl
water those roots
shriveled as spilled milk?
breviary
all day
we grow older
and take things in
our arms to hold us aright
then there are six hours
after the sky tips
over soiling the colours
the part where the music turns
last ditch giddy
and we grow young
somehow it's enough
or it never is, but we accept
the compromise and go home
propped up all the way
with the things we never let go
even as we flung
the rest of the night
we grow back old
older again
the things we took in
to hold
end up soft swirled
piled on top
keeping us warm
pinned to the night
we grow older
and take things in
our arms to hold us aright
then there are six hours
after the sky tips
over soiling the colours
the part where the music turns
last ditch giddy
and we grow young
somehow it's enough
or it never is, but we accept
the compromise and go home
propped up all the way
with the things we never let go
even as we flung
the rest of the night
we grow back old
older again
the things we took in
to hold
end up soft swirled
piled on top
keeping us warm
pinned to the night
smokefall
the wind
blows his smoke down white to me
and mine up to him
spent and spending
i imagine and he
is not as i imagine
the stars
blow down on - we -
(he is gone
a curse sloughs
free
falls)
smoke and five point leaves
riding histories
up
and down
blows his smoke down white to me
and mine up to him
spent and spending
i imagine and he
is not as i imagine
the stars
blow down on - we -
(he is gone
a curse sloughs
free
falls)
smoke and five point leaves
riding histories
up
and down
kite after noon
a long broad kite at the end of the bed
tossing sunlight at me for conversation
flick a silken angle
breathe open a crease
relax eventually
bored of it the game of catch
loosen as for sleep
without thinking
crawl up my side
eyes in the shade of my head
feet warm in the last of it
bend your angles broken thread
tossing sunlight at me for conversation
flick a silken angle
breathe open a crease
relax eventually
bored of it the game of catch
loosen as for sleep
without thinking
crawl up my side
eyes in the shade of my head
feet warm in the last of it
bend your angles broken thread
the butterfly orgy
in a room pink and dusty
from all the heave and ho
almost a hundred bare bodies
coiled into still bunsens
boiling desire as clear as cold water
from one apparatus to another
under several layers of skin
and under several layers of sewn feather
and when as an orchestra the temperature was reached
almost a hundred timpani blew the layers to the beams
i saw so many powdered wings tagged with postage stamps
and legs without feet stamping
stamping despair desperate come clean
cold water drown down us drain us
drive us into the -
but here i joined the stamp
and remember nothing else.
from all the heave and ho
almost a hundred bare bodies
coiled into still bunsens
boiling desire as clear as cold water
from one apparatus to another
under several layers of skin
and under several layers of sewn feather
and when as an orchestra the temperature was reached
almost a hundred timpani blew the layers to the beams
i saw so many powdered wings tagged with postage stamps
and legs without feet stamping
stamping despair desperate come clean
cold water drown down us drain us
drive us into the -
but here i joined the stamp
and remember nothing else.
request
you would like the breath taken from you
and put you care not where
it is a hard request
most thieves
do not know how to steal
or what they have
or how to hide in plain sight
and no one else
dares
and put you care not where
it is a hard request
most thieves
do not know how to steal
or what they have
or how to hide in plain sight
and no one else
dares
Venice 2
if you take for a guide
whatever first found moving
in any direction
in this city
you shall lose your way always
if you lean against the walls
you also carry them away
in your hair and knit
whatever first found moving
in any direction
in this city
you shall lose your way always
if you lean against the walls
you also carry them away
in your hair and knit
dreaming us
i dream these dreams on purpose
of our street darker
window light deeper
i call them up
exact replicas of here
but for time
folded coordinates
matching degrees
press together
in dreams
we argue the same affection
for many possible eternities
of our street darker
window light deeper
i call them up
exact replicas of here
but for time
folded coordinates
matching degrees
press together
in dreams
we argue the same affection
for many possible eternities
how we talk now
it was like love
first and shy
from your corner to mine
we wished to hold hands
but it seemed an ocean
sunk into that space, our faces
pained with smile
less to say than we had
this reflection between us
this surface
black, whitecapped
took your gaze
sealed and sent it
i could read your lips
but not your eyes
like i said
it was like love
all first and shy
first and shy
from your corner to mine
we wished to hold hands
but it seemed an ocean
sunk into that space, our faces
pained with smile
less to say than we had
this reflection between us
this surface
black, whitecapped
took your gaze
sealed and sent it
i could read your lips
but not your eyes
like i said
it was like love
all first and shy
leveler
i was a reveler by the fire
you were a bright bloom wasting
we took turns on names for god
hallelujah, latecome blessing.
down they poured
shaken, seeded
apart we shuddered
fording shallows, swimming secret.
names slick across our skin
dislodging bits for narrative
we recited omega and the end
the river listed reverent, relative
more it asked, more we sang
til tow filled our mouths, drew us under
giving up that bloom, that flame
we sank our names in the dark leveler.
you were a bright bloom wasting
we took turns on names for god
hallelujah, latecome blessing.
down they poured
shaken, seeded
apart we shuddered
fording shallows, swimming secret.
names slick across our skin
dislodging bits for narrative
we recited omega and the end
the river listed reverent, relative
more it asked, more we sang
til tow filled our mouths, drew us under
giving up that bloom, that flame
we sank our names in the dark leveler.
bodies by mine
since bitten tongue
struck foot on stair
pressed hand to wall
or face to prayer
numb turns noun
state of weight
come skin to bone
take on nerve
only sensed when severed
by bodies by mine
struck foot on stair
pressed hand to wall
or face to prayer
numb turns noun
state of weight
come skin to bone
take on nerve
only sensed when severed
by bodies by mine
the prisoners
marble wrest,
swim, love,
surface
from scoria
gnawed block
womb gnashed
only ligament and animus
barer than the newest born
cleaving light
your only carapace
swim, love,
surface
from scoria
gnawed block
womb gnashed
only ligament and animus
barer than the newest born
cleaving light
your only carapace
To the Executions
we go to the executions
you watch
to burn off the blood
i, to burn off the love.
from our tame trained bodies
sweat breaks
from our indoor skin
fumes lift, mix, ignite.
in the aftermath
we half hallucinate manners
you offer the skull of a helmet
i hold the muzzle of your gun while you collect.
dec, 2012
you watch
to burn off the blood
i, to burn off the love.
from our tame trained bodies
sweat breaks
from our indoor skin
fumes lift, mix, ignite.
in the aftermath
we half hallucinate manners
you offer the skull of a helmet
i hold the muzzle of your gun while you collect.
dec, 2012
Breathwork For Two
at the last moment
broken by the straw of that
least breath, mine,
your own lungs brimmed,
flooded,
and though you may have clamped
your teeth
your surprise
curse hissed there
swirling - through the conch shaped clouds
swirling - pressure in my ears
swirling - brine and tang
frozen crystal on crystal
until
your breath fell back to me
slivered and shaved
with just a hint of all the sweat
put into that prayer
dec 18, 12
broken by the straw of that
least breath, mine,
your own lungs brimmed,
flooded,
and though you may have clamped
your teeth
your surprise
curse hissed there
swirling - through the conch shaped clouds
swirling - pressure in my ears
swirling - brine and tang
frozen crystal on crystal
until
your breath fell back to me
slivered and shaved
with just a hint of all the sweat
put into that prayer
dec 18, 12
Tattoo of Honey and Soot
tattoo of honey and soot
the bees did not swarm
the woods did not burn
every blessed sear and sting
tendered for warmth
pain blots into a body
a hand traces it into form
working with available light
blood born into ink and reborn
dec, 12
the bees did not swarm
the woods did not burn
every blessed sear and sting
tendered for warmth
pain blots into a body
a hand traces it into form
working with available light
blood born into ink and reborn
dec, 12
Robes for Beggars
these walls collapsible,
night of tissue dyed,
these lungs canteens
of blood and ether
hold us over
the slow forever crashing,
so little for gravity
we'll catch the heavier teeth as they loosen,
fraying weft to wreck,
gathered for our necks,
the thin world -
robes for beggars
dec 18, 12
night of tissue dyed,
these lungs canteens
of blood and ether
hold us over
the slow forever crashing,
so little for gravity
we'll catch the heavier teeth as they loosen,
fraying weft to wreck,
gathered for our necks,
the thin world -
robes for beggars
dec 18, 12
First Communion
silent morning, holy morning
city so drunk dreamt
even apnea cannot startle
jolt
bother
catch
a swarming light
hoarse crackles over
stay stay stay
jan 1
city so drunk dreamt
even apnea cannot startle
jolt
bother
catch
a swarming light
hoarse crackles over
stay stay stay
jan 1
Cello Craft
to bend the bones
to place
to shave the swollen
jumping organ
to a shapelier
instrument
something deep that takes
the whole body's worth
to drag one note
breaks blood vessels
and nerve columns
and bread of a whole life
to draw one note
to the next.
jan 2
to place
to shave the swollen
jumping organ
to a shapelier
instrument
something deep that takes
the whole body's worth
to drag one note
breaks blood vessels
and nerve columns
and bread of a whole life
to draw one note
to the next.
jan 2
Necklace
slip stone
to slip
the cross braided with
turquoise and choice
chain rising as you rise
dropping as you fall
until its rhythm is your heart
and your heart is lost
you may spend the current
tight panic and scramble
sunk in silt
to the wrists for the symbol
go on
the chain glints at the bank
in the sundown
in the exhaust
you spread
your limbs
your head
your belly and back
upon that last
unabridged gap
that last
effort you cast.
jan 2
to slip
the cross braided with
turquoise and choice
chain rising as you rise
dropping as you fall
until its rhythm is your heart
and your heart is lost
you may spend the current
tight panic and scramble
sunk in silt
to the wrists for the symbol
go on
the chain glints at the bank
in the sundown
in the exhaust
you spread
your limbs
your head
your belly and back
upon that last
unabridged gap
that last
effort you cast.
jan 2
Upholstery
when you touch
that upholstered brick
that bribe
unholy bible
of mine
lacking latch or lock
lying in trust within your reach
as you talk and in between
trace its raised upholstery.
and i might try
not to see
not to breathe
its flipped cover
space fanned through the seams
i'm blown like love
lost leaves.
settling your hand -
lest it rest -
let it read
it is a press
for tensed membranes
too laden
to cling.
that upholstered brick
that bribe
unholy bible
of mine
lacking latch or lock
lying in trust within your reach
as you talk and in between
trace its raised upholstery.
and i might try
not to see
not to breathe
its flipped cover
space fanned through the seams
i'm blown like love
lost leaves.
settling your hand -
lest it rest -
let it read
it is a press
for tensed membranes
too laden
to cling.
dreamt mythology
draft the horse and the unicorn
life size monsters merry
through the morning
loam and lee
you'd mouth
the magic road you'd lap
the blue dress
the flood
the goat's eyes
hyphenate
the waking hives
from dreams
the faces met
through wither steam
the cut hair
the myth the history
life size monsters merry
through the morning
loam and lee
you'd mouth
the magic road you'd lap
the blue dress
the flood
the goat's eyes
hyphenate
the waking hives
from dreams
the faces met
through wither steam
the cut hair
the myth the history
Numb Tongue
the dog's warning and farewell
antlers and hooves
hummingbird water doused
your dislocated hip
the nameless numberries
oozing houseplant stalk
through the column of you
sleeping sleeping
talking in your sleeping
and forgetting just as
just as then
just as soon
just as well
as waking.
nov
antlers and hooves
hummingbird water doused
your dislocated hip
the nameless numberries
oozing houseplant stalk
through the column of you
sleeping sleeping
talking in your sleeping
and forgetting just as
just as then
just as soon
just as well
as waking.
nov
Prescription
the old,
young woman
medicine bottle
rusted tight
faded vague
in case you cannot
remember
what in the end was
me or you to poison
the symptom, written
in red, mildewed
and bled
"you"
dec somthing
young woman
medicine bottle
rusted tight
faded vague
in case you cannot
remember
what in the end was
me or you to poison
the symptom, written
in red, mildewed
and bled
"you"
dec somthing
Lock Jaw
Put a bone cold pink
apple to my lips
behind my back
slip knot my wrists
and while you drag
a stone along a spike
kiss my jaw
say i should bite
nov 20
apple to my lips
behind my back
slip knot my wrists
and while you drag
a stone along a spike
kiss my jaw
say i should bite
nov 20
Your Own Belt
and travel like story
will take you, tie you
with your own belt,
where you do not want,
but where it will.
spit out the word
or be led away.
oct
will take you, tie you
with your own belt,
where you do not want,
but where it will.
spit out the word
or be led away.
oct
Rome
She said Rome is
a pilgrim's city
from the light
to the water
you will never rest
along the nights
you will wander
throwing tokens overhead
going circles
through the empire
like the very palace bats
like the lapping surf of stones
like the domes ballooned with mass
oct
a pilgrim's city
from the light
to the water
you will never rest
along the nights
you will wander
throwing tokens overhead
going circles
through the empire
like the very palace bats
like the lapping surf of stones
like the domes ballooned with mass
oct
Tuscany
ready to receive in wonder
tilled hills
their blood in bark smell
towns crumbled
to a perfect standstill
light slowing
from wave to particle
ready to alight
to take and eat what is given
oct
tilled hills
their blood in bark smell
towns crumbled
to a perfect standstill
light slowing
from wave to particle
ready to alight
to take and eat what is given
oct
Venice
We come to feel the moment we are lost
the texture walls take - sponge
and ways - splinters from the water.
We come to remember earth is animal
hungry and dissipated
enough to masticate her own.
We come to survive above the bricks and pilings
strapped to limestone rafts and hearses.
Pushing against the river Styx
we come to sing, to create ceremony for corpses
to gloss eulogy on matricide
not to mention how we die.
oct
the texture walls take - sponge
and ways - splinters from the water.
We come to remember earth is animal
hungry and dissipated
enough to masticate her own.
We come to survive above the bricks and pilings
strapped to limestone rafts and hearses.
Pushing against the river Styx
we come to sing, to create ceremony for corpses
to gloss eulogy on matricide
not to mention how we die.
oct
Graphite and Gravity
graphite sea
some great liquid gravity
some siren
some magnet
the feathered sky
resigns
filament by filament
oct
some great liquid gravity
some siren
some magnet
the feathered sky
resigns
filament by filament
oct
Wolves of Siena
Cinder wolves of Siena
and the burned wall
against a sky
like a fist wrapped in sorrow
arms wound in flaw
a sky misktaken for land
clouds mistaken for shelter
you don't know where to look
you don't know where to fall
oct
and the burned wall
against a sky
like a fist wrapped in sorrow
arms wound in flaw
a sky misktaken for land
clouds mistaken for shelter
you don't know where to look
you don't know where to fall
oct
Likeness
behind your doors
i wash my hands
my face
my mouth
my eyes
out
horrified that i've
washed out your likeness
the bits you or i
licked and layered
over my skin
i feign mystery
and make for the outside
outside your doors
i walk my hands
my face
my mouth
my eyes
out
nov 25, 12
i wash my hands
my face
my mouth
my eyes
out
horrified that i've
washed out your likeness
the bits you or i
licked and layered
over my skin
i feign mystery
and make for the outside
outside your doors
i walk my hands
my face
my mouth
my eyes
out
nov 25, 12
Setting Sirens
a silhouette
smokes
curls her lips
combs her breath
through her teeth
when they taught me about men
they taught me about me
through the cemetery
they come
for my face
my clothes
the body becoming me
setting sirens
a silhouette
curls her lips
i'm glad to stop
looking in their white eyes
i fade
i'm glad
less than matter, darker
grave
11,7,12
smokes
curls her lips
combs her breath
through her teeth
when they taught me about men
they taught me about me
through the cemetery
they come
for my face
my clothes
the body becoming me
setting sirens
a silhouette
curls her lips
i'm glad to stop
looking in their white eyes
i fade
i'm glad
less than matter, darker
grave
11,7,12
Keep Very Still
i heard
i was told
my conscience is a gear
with stakes
and to keep very still
if it bent
it would break
and the blade
would stay
infecting its hold
after that first revolution
i knew
it was more than a stone
like a bomb
i heard
it click into place
a leaf in the spokes
nobody heard
nobody knew
it left off long ago
and i don't know if it gave out
or blew a hole slowly
i bleed to
death or
it just
lies
in
wait
nov 7, 12
i was told
my conscience is a gear
with stakes
and to keep very still
if it bent
it would break
and the blade
would stay
infecting its hold
after that first revolution
i knew
it was more than a stone
like a bomb
i heard
it click into place
a leaf in the spokes
nobody heard
nobody knew
it left off long ago
and i don't know if it gave out
or blew a hole slowly
i bleed to
death or
it just
lies
in
wait
nov 7, 12
Memory Keeping Priests
our feet lapped with midnight tide
fieldgrass stamens and pistils
the priests of this telescope temple
nightly thanking heaven
they were not born with our bloodied vessels
so poor and forgetful
we who trade for nothing,
for sleep,
a dozen shocks of raining light,
falling memory
last recipients of lightyears-lasting
prophecies without eyes to fit the lens
they keep the field
with wonder holy
never rising, kneeling, praying, pressing
to the curtain the stalk of their bodies
likely and possible
they keep the censer burning, swinging
in case we remember
to come to the temple.
aug 17, 12
fieldgrass stamens and pistils
the priests of this telescope temple
nightly thanking heaven
they were not born with our bloodied vessels
so poor and forgetful
we who trade for nothing,
for sleep,
a dozen shocks of raining light,
falling memory
last recipients of lightyears-lasting
prophecies without eyes to fit the lens
they keep the field
with wonder holy
never rising, kneeling, praying, pressing
to the curtain the stalk of their bodies
likely and possible
they keep the censer burning, swinging
in case we remember
to come to the temple.
aug 17, 12
Words I Made Up
words i made up
for sound only
against a game my sister played
of words with sounds
that rotted in my throat
(they don't count
she said, unless you can find them
in the dictionary)
pushed through underbrush
untame
until the very wild of sound only
was my kingdom, a void
that needed no fighting for
that swallowed the world,
meaning on meaning,
whole, or forgot it.
aug 16, 12
for sound only
against a game my sister played
of words with sounds
that rotted in my throat
(they don't count
she said, unless you can find them
in the dictionary)
pushed through underbrush
untame
until the very wild of sound only
was my kingdom, a void
that needed no fighting for
that swallowed the world,
meaning on meaning,
whole, or forgot it.
aug 16, 12
hanging scales
how fast it falls
and when you forget
altogether, tells me
slightly more than nothing
tells me you weigh our ends
scales strung up
from floating ribs, those scales
should be weighing
the next, now,
sometimes,
if my ears are
oiled and broken in
i hear -
almost, the key is not looking up
in the slant strain -
just how heavy our ends will be.
aug 20, 12
and when you forget
altogether, tells me
slightly more than nothing
tells me you weigh our ends
scales strung up
from floating ribs, those scales
should be weighing
the next, now,
sometimes,
if my ears are
oiled and broken in
i hear -
almost, the key is not looking up
in the slant strain -
just how heavy our ends will be.
aug 20, 12
Your Joy
were you down that road
slipping by before dawn
the clouds
made a perfectly smooth scar
your joy, tether let
all the way out,
snuffling the seam
of road and field?
aug 17, 12
slipping by before dawn
the clouds
made a perfectly smooth scar
your joy, tether let
all the way out,
snuffling the seam
of road and field?
aug 17, 12
Working With Available Words
this is me speaking chinese
all it is
is three words for "green vegetable"
and only one for "sad"
a consonant sound at
the beginning of "want"
i am told i have never
pronounced intelligibly
and the three specific meanings
for the three words
"need"
are indistinguishable to me
yet
burn as my skin might
these are the only words
available between us
and my blood runs thinner
and hotter with the possibilities.
aug 17, 12
all it is
is three words for "green vegetable"
and only one for "sad"
a consonant sound at
the beginning of "want"
i am told i have never
pronounced intelligibly
and the three specific meanings
for the three words
"need"
are indistinguishable to me
yet
burn as my skin might
these are the only words
available between us
and my blood runs thinner
and hotter with the possibilities.
aug 17, 12
Axis Mundi
Eternity, a knife stuck
perpendicular in the ground
a blade wide enough
we must squeeze by
flaying our back
or front, which
would you lose
to participate in this prayer
what do you come to sacrifice?
Or on our best mornings we
close our eyes and walk
for hours
with only that shining blade
behind the eyes,
willing it to extend an invitation
an image to intersect
this blind road and spare not
one side of our body
more, but to thickly, as thick
as the million ghosts of stars,
run us through, clean
or not, until our blood coats
both flats of the knife
and we are more eternity
than not, flesh
fallen, shaved from the spine
tender mouthfuls for birds
of death and resurrection.
aug 17, 12
perpendicular in the ground
a blade wide enough
we must squeeze by
flaying our back
or front, which
would you lose
to participate in this prayer
what do you come to sacrifice?
Or on our best mornings we
close our eyes and walk
for hours
with only that shining blade
behind the eyes,
willing it to extend an invitation
an image to intersect
this blind road and spare not
one side of our body
more, but to thickly, as thick
as the million ghosts of stars,
run us through, clean
or not, until our blood coats
both flats of the knife
and we are more eternity
than not, flesh
fallen, shaved from the spine
tender mouthfuls for birds
of death and resurrection.
aug 17, 12
On the Altar, on Moriah
the year's end then
i lost my voice on
the way to you
or it died out
as we climbed mile
for mile into that
wide top
of the world
it was the end
of a year afterall, thinning
to a blade
and our voices
eventually
scrape clean
sacrifice
to the holy nothing
a fleet death shock
a frayed tongue
this is
what you are, afterall.
aug 16, 12
i lost my voice on
the way to you
or it died out
as we climbed mile
for mile into that
wide top
of the world
it was the end
of a year afterall, thinning
to a blade
and our voices
eventually
scrape clean
sacrifice
to the holy nothing
a fleet death shock
a frayed tongue
this is
what you are, afterall.
aug 16, 12
The Colours of Armageddon
This lavender sky
poisons shingles and brick
socks their mortared
millipeded gaps to pulp
dying kidney colour
like every rotten body gored
taking its last eyeful
lungful, hung from its own bones
lustful, it remains
gorgeous, engorged on stranger
and stranger means
of achieving
this last requirement
down to the last handful
the world will throw
gross beauty
in our eyes
and foam sticky holy
glory down our necks.
aug 11, 12
poisons shingles and brick
socks their mortared
millipeded gaps to pulp
dying kidney colour
like every rotten body gored
taking its last eyeful
lungful, hung from its own bones
lustful, it remains
gorgeous, engorged on stranger
and stranger means
of achieving
this last requirement
down to the last handful
the world will throw
gross beauty
in our eyes
and foam sticky holy
glory down our necks.
aug 11, 12
Bricks in the Blood
The walls
we live along fall
determine we will,
must, fight
their clay weight
hefted along in veins
snatching cradles
thought secret ours
in every eddy
exulting to smash
their painted spindles
carved curlicues
innocence we
believed sound
the only way
to find our bodies
bare but for one another
wrapped around
is to love like war
to break our fingers
from their death grip
to outbreathe this blood current
to live until it tires
of killing us
aug 13, 12
we live along fall
determine we will,
must, fight
their clay weight
hefted along in veins
snatching cradles
thought secret ours
in every eddy
exulting to smash
their painted spindles
carved curlicues
innocence we
believed sound
the only way
to find our bodies
bare but for one another
wrapped around
is to love like war
to break our fingers
from their death grip
to outbreathe this blood current
to live until it tires
of killing us
aug 13, 12
His and Hers
All that was left in the morning
was a jam jar
gin-soaked lavender oxidizing
and the last page of a short story
she always wanted to write,
about her secret high school boyfriend,
already done
right there. better really
because it was from his perspective
not hers. and now what
did she sleep after the jar? after the story?
did she need to be sheet swaddled to do so?
did she stay up wondering if she'd always
be a line walker
unbelieving believer while
the opposite too
did she stay up wondering, caring
why she never once cared
if she didn't have teenage sex
why the shape of faces fitting just so
was a sign of everything, enough
and a summoned smell of collarbone
could keep her up for hours
draining slowly from a jar
never thinking of more
not writing down the answers
to any of these questions
not even asking
aug 2, 12
was a jam jar
gin-soaked lavender oxidizing
and the last page of a short story
she always wanted to write,
about her secret high school boyfriend,
already done
right there. better really
because it was from his perspective
not hers. and now what
did she sleep after the jar? after the story?
did she need to be sheet swaddled to do so?
did she stay up wondering if she'd always
be a line walker
unbelieving believer while
the opposite too
did she stay up wondering, caring
why she never once cared
if she didn't have teenage sex
why the shape of faces fitting just so
was a sign of everything, enough
and a summoned smell of collarbone
could keep her up for hours
draining slowly from a jar
never thinking of more
not writing down the answers
to any of these questions
not even asking
aug 2, 12
About Morning
Coming out sideways
bringing drywall and frame,
the world down around your feet
shaving what's left of my bones
to double-edged stakes
nailing you to the rubbish heap
and while i've already paid
for your coming nightmares
with my pawned teeth
even monsters regret
so i sing you to sleep
lying about morning.
aug 8, 12
bringing drywall and frame,
the world down around your feet
shaving what's left of my bones
to double-edged stakes
nailing you to the rubbish heap
and while i've already paid
for your coming nightmares
with my pawned teeth
even monsters regret
so i sing you to sleep
lying about morning.
aug 8, 12
To the Bruises
we made our way
to an outcropping of bruises
in the dark they glowed
glossy black, black and blue
against the flat night
we thought they would shield us
between them hidden
from the endless, endless
web of consequences or worse,
indifference to our ruined lives.
in the dark, in my nerve cuffed joy
i did not count how many,
many selves i'd let loose
i did not count the reflections in the glossy black:
to the cleft she came first, desperate to steal
raised my own gun
steadier than i ever could
and blew a scream through your body
the size i couldn't tell
and through my face
big enough to be unsure it survived at all.
with nothing of me to save
she ran for the cliff side
as if it was not blacker there.
my only living self, finally
awake and all instinct, went after her
falling scent
the ghost of my jaw called her back
among the bruises
among our strewn outcomes
she lifted her throat as long as it would go
and cried into the black and blue
and against any reflection left.
jul 1, 2012
to an outcropping of bruises
in the dark they glowed
glossy black, black and blue
against the flat night
we thought they would shield us
between them hidden
from the endless, endless
web of consequences or worse,
indifference to our ruined lives.
in the dark, in my nerve cuffed joy
i did not count how many,
many selves i'd let loose
i did not count the reflections in the glossy black:
to the cleft she came first, desperate to steal
raised my own gun
steadier than i ever could
and blew a scream through your body
the size i couldn't tell
and through my face
big enough to be unsure it survived at all.
with nothing of me to save
she ran for the cliff side
as if it was not blacker there.
my only living self, finally
awake and all instinct, went after her
falling scent
the ghost of my jaw called her back
among the bruises
among our strewn outcomes
she lifted her throat as long as it would go
and cried into the black and blue
and against any reflection left.
jul 1, 2012
The Color of a Sheet
The sheet pulled over our twin bodies
yours and mine but
also hers and mine,
it's just the color of a sheet
i told myself but
you handed me a treatise
a careful thing
careful not to say
anything but the color of a sheet,
i bore into it, to find you under there
and wasn't allowed,
to find myself under there
but how is it i couldn't,
could only see this other body of mine
leaned against yours
all the faces lost in the color of a sheet.
Now and until we find one another, hand over hand,
we will make the color of this sheet
our tent and not go behind
our elders to see reason
under sturdier eaves.
jul
yours and mine but
also hers and mine,
it's just the color of a sheet
i told myself but
you handed me a treatise
a careful thing
careful not to say
anything but the color of a sheet,
i bore into it, to find you under there
and wasn't allowed,
to find myself under there
but how is it i couldn't,
could only see this other body of mine
leaned against yours
all the faces lost in the color of a sheet.
Now and until we find one another, hand over hand,
we will make the color of this sheet
our tent and not go behind
our elders to see reason
under sturdier eaves.
jul
Between Us, The Holy of Holies
This unfordable vein
might as well be an eternal
motion. if we ever found
the source, the bubbling gush
compact enough to walk
an easy circle. if we ever found
that, we'd have already walked
so far together, this river apart
we'd might as well keep it
so part of us.
and who's to say
it's not the holy of holies.
the hollow heart that keeps
it all from crashing
against it all. keeps
us from crushing one
another's throats in our hunger.
on either side of this
river, this chamber
veil rent and bled
we make out one
another's silhouette
through smoke.
aug 7, 12
might as well be an eternal
motion. if we ever found
the source, the bubbling gush
compact enough to walk
an easy circle. if we ever found
that, we'd have already walked
so far together, this river apart
we'd might as well keep it
so part of us.
and who's to say
it's not the holy of holies.
the hollow heart that keeps
it all from crashing
against it all. keeps
us from crushing one
another's throats in our hunger.
on either side of this
river, this chamber
veil rent and bled
we make out one
another's silhouette
through smoke.
aug 7, 12
Ouija
if you repeat (if)
the lines (you)
stroke for stroke (repeat)
the internal structure (the lines)
will organize itself (under your hand)
like a message (from the dead) on a board
of random letters
like a picture in the dregs (it's there)
you gather its pulse
under the wrist (then gone)
behind this knee, then not
testing every weakness to get out
(repeat the lines)
blind if it helps
trace them (senseless)
until your fingers find that knotted muscle
catching all the rest (in) its (terror)
strangle it
that (cold) ghost meaning
will arrange the lines evenly.
jul 27, 12
the lines (you)
stroke for stroke (repeat)
the internal structure (the lines)
will organize itself (under your hand)
like a message (from the dead) on a board
of random letters
like a picture in the dregs (it's there)
you gather its pulse
under the wrist (then gone)
behind this knee, then not
testing every weakness to get out
(repeat the lines)
blind if it helps
trace them (senseless)
until your fingers find that knotted muscle
catching all the rest (in) its (terror)
strangle it
that (cold) ghost meaning
will arrange the lines evenly.
jul 27, 12
The Month
he said this one's good for a month
and i felt the space of a month
balloon around me. full of my
own hair touching my shoulders,
my own hands touching my hair
outside the houses supposedly full
i only hear buzzing
houses full of bees
beating to get around the windows
and surround me
if i forget them
they won't come any sooner
forgetting the houses won't make them fall
forgetting the pressure mechanically,
without a will, laying siege
to the walls of my month
won't reverse gravity
whether i keep them warm
in my mind or not
i do not sustain these things
they wait any way
and come for me after all.
july 14, 2012
and i felt the space of a month
balloon around me. full of my
own hair touching my shoulders,
my own hands touching my hair
outside the houses supposedly full
i only hear buzzing
houses full of bees
beating to get around the windows
and surround me
if i forget them
they won't come any sooner
forgetting the houses won't make them fall
forgetting the pressure mechanically,
without a will, laying siege
to the walls of my month
won't reverse gravity
whether i keep them warm
in my mind or not
i do not sustain these things
they wait any way
and come for me after all.
july 14, 2012
The Professional Sick
no sum of parts
shaped only by
the limbs torn from traps
and the limbs
offered as peace
or bait.
like the professional sick
hire an alms giver
he will carry me to the nearest pool
into which lately pissed a prophet
or son of god.
because i never believed
any great physician
wearing just a face
i didn't recognize him
even as i paid
with my story
and took his back.
because i never believed
in one pool
more than the last
i didn't recognize
even as he passed them all
and hauled me to his own womb
a churn of blood and tissue.
the tide there stirred in fits
pulled time out in salt
compressed it down
stealing only to toss
my shrunken remains
over its shoulder
until holding my breath
felt as right as breathing
and all in one gulp i drowned.
the prophet disguised in piggyback
scraped me to land
by dislocated parts
there arranged them
pressed them into stone
left me there to learn
jul, 2012
shaped only by
the limbs torn from traps
and the limbs
offered as peace
or bait.
like the professional sick
hire an alms giver
he will carry me to the nearest pool
into which lately pissed a prophet
or son of god.
because i never believed
any great physician
wearing just a face
i didn't recognize him
even as i paid
with my story
and took his back.
because i never believed
in one pool
more than the last
i didn't recognize
even as he passed them all
and hauled me to his own womb
a churn of blood and tissue.
the tide there stirred in fits
pulled time out in salt
compressed it down
stealing only to toss
my shrunken remains
over its shoulder
until holding my breath
felt as right as breathing
and all in one gulp i drowned.
the prophet disguised in piggyback
scraped me to land
by dislocated parts
there arranged them
pressed them into stone
left me there to learn
jul, 2012
Sleeptalk on the Moon
night on the moon
craters reflected in tea
the horizon bowed
room hums into room
read my dreams to me
swept of sound or cloud
i knock through
babel narrating
only sleeptalk aloud
june 6, 12
Head Dreaming of a Bird (or Bird Dreaming of a Head)
waking up to the birds
the infant season
cries earlier and earlier
need,
the dog paws up a pallet of thatch
satisfied to hear me say here
go or lie down from time to time,
and inside i'm also satisfied
with the feeling of a new bird
falling from trying
drawing the failure out in euphoric swoops,
so far up, if anyone cared to watch the sky,
the empty skull would stir with only me
the only shadow in that whitewashed bone
the only wet and beating thing in that years dry head,
anyone could watch it happen
until i fell out of view
the end of their story of me
ricocheting without grace
through brittle capillaries
bent invisible
and flicked to the earth,
the morning won't register
anything amiss
june 5, 12
the infant season
cries earlier and earlier
need,
the dog paws up a pallet of thatch
satisfied to hear me say here
go or lie down from time to time,
and inside i'm also satisfied
with the feeling of a new bird
falling from trying
drawing the failure out in euphoric swoops,
so far up, if anyone cared to watch the sky,
the empty skull would stir with only me
the only shadow in that whitewashed bone
the only wet and beating thing in that years dry head,
anyone could watch it happen
until i fell out of view
the end of their story of me
ricocheting without grace
through brittle capillaries
bent invisible
and flicked to the earth,
the morning won't register
anything amiss
june 5, 12
Such Fires
We are not for these fires
love them as we do to a crumble
and our limbs and fisted organs
are still what we're left with
In the whole earth we tie ourselves up here
and cry martyr burned in them
but such fires are to be warmed by
not staked to
Such fires are to come back to
to signal marco on our polo ways
not to lean into while the world
drains from our eyes forever
a black char
we no longer turn to for life
We love them but these fires
they are not our bodies
june 5, 12
love them as we do to a crumble
and our limbs and fisted organs
are still what we're left with
In the whole earth we tie ourselves up here
and cry martyr burned in them
but such fires are to be warmed by
not staked to
Such fires are to come back to
to signal marco on our polo ways
not to lean into while the world
drains from our eyes forever
a black char
we no longer turn to for life
We love them but these fires
they are not our bodies
june 5, 12
Check the Sheets For Spiders
In the mother's house
built around our heads like a garland
across our arms like the satin
edging of wide-woven blanket
the girls whip the sheets to wake spiders
beat the pillows against the walls
and promise to wake while the windows are still blue
the father roams and stacks his boots
steel worn as dull as leather
and leather worn as thin as words that count
he stacks pale dishes above their rims with food
passes it around, settles, then dusted
away again by words, like gnats from the garden
the mother, the mother
checks our crowns for thistles
and beetles, repeating the lists
of things that chew shotgun holes
in the night, things that hide
she traces careful incisions with her beak
on the napes of our necks
remember, remember
to check the sheets for spiders
may 24, 12
built around our heads like a garland
across our arms like the satin
edging of wide-woven blanket
the girls whip the sheets to wake spiders
beat the pillows against the walls
and promise to wake while the windows are still blue
the father roams and stacks his boots
steel worn as dull as leather
and leather worn as thin as words that count
he stacks pale dishes above their rims with food
passes it around, settles, then dusted
away again by words, like gnats from the garden
the mother, the mother
checks our crowns for thistles
and beetles, repeating the lists
of things that chew shotgun holes
in the night, things that hide
she traces careful incisions with her beak
on the napes of our necks
remember, remember
to check the sheets for spiders
may 24, 12
While She Sleeps
I listen to your whole body
every part is part of you
used from fuse to spark
lit at every end
from the fresh ember of breath
nothing cools in the whir of the world
you newly spin on
i blow in your hair
and draw in the momentary incense
rising, smelling like everything
i no longer believe in
so just for you i close my eyes
just to light as you light
just to pretend what you know
eyes only good for distances
the nose can bring in through the body
retracting close enough to thread
through that cavity
expanding back out just
in front of your face
This is how you believe
eyes closed
may 24, 12
every part is part of you
used from fuse to spark
lit at every end
from the fresh ember of breath
nothing cools in the whir of the world
you newly spin on
i blow in your hair
and draw in the momentary incense
rising, smelling like everything
i no longer believe in
so just for you i close my eyes
just to light as you light
just to pretend what you know
eyes only good for distances
the nose can bring in through the body
retracting close enough to thread
through that cavity
expanding back out just
in front of your face
This is how you believe
eyes closed
may 24, 12
For Show
Moth shadows tilt as big as bats
and merge with sculpted black leaves
the sky draws a close curtain
and narrows a melted light across the audience
changing tiny into monstrous
and for show, the shadows of their bobbing heads
resembling everything else
tangled in a rising midnight wind.
may 24, 12
and merge with sculpted black leaves
the sky draws a close curtain
and narrows a melted light across the audience
changing tiny into monstrous
and for show, the shadows of their bobbing heads
resembling everything else
tangled in a rising midnight wind.
may 24, 12
Dancing Bear
Ever the monster, dancing bear, tame
with a limp now, heel of a boot
finally crushed. What bear
could dance without shoes
the limp, without the heel
rejoins paw to field
so can't there be one day
not for dancing, Sunday,
can it be that day
one day for loping
away, and not only away,
please, that's still a chain,
but towards the world out of time
in more than two steps, all four
lope to sky, to roots,
tree line,
through brush, lope to
what is good,
to learn again
what is a bear
may 6, 12
with a limp now, heel of a boot
finally crushed. What bear
could dance without shoes
the limp, without the heel
rejoins paw to field
so can't there be one day
not for dancing, Sunday,
can it be that day
one day for loping
away, and not only away,
please, that's still a chain,
but towards the world out of time
in more than two steps, all four
lope to sky, to roots,
tree line,
through brush, lope to
what is good,
to learn again
what is a bear
may 6, 12
No Time, Jericho
i did not have the constancy to
rub you thin
or the strength to fold you in my hands
or the adoration to pick at your glaze
so i tested your ceramic curve
between gravity and granite
i did not have the invisibility to
stake out your hiding place
or the practice to stalk you there
or the silence to hear what brought you there
i did not have the right
i did not have the tenacity to
march your perimeter methodically
or the breath to fill a trumpet's coil
or my other hand the strength, as said,
to smash a jar of fire on command
so i ran your walls of Jericho
gasping fall, fall, fall
apr 27, 12
rub you thin
or the strength to fold you in my hands
or the adoration to pick at your glaze
so i tested your ceramic curve
between gravity and granite
i did not have the invisibility to
stake out your hiding place
or the practice to stalk you there
or the silence to hear what brought you there
i did not have the right
i did not have the tenacity to
march your perimeter methodically
or the breath to fill a trumpet's coil
or my other hand the strength, as said,
to smash a jar of fire on command
so i ran your walls of Jericho
gasping fall, fall, fall
apr 27, 12
Waking Dreams of Carrying Blood
Waking from dreams
everyone's wounds
were layered and beautiful
but bleeding
shining dark on pale
drained in the sun
dust rising to drink from these fountains
and i wasn't sure i could carry them all
back to the shade, damp, uphill, in turn
they each woke from their falls
talking nonsense
and making circles in their sentences
to convince me it was not a sign
when i begged them not to talk
as if their brains had come loose
they each sat up smiling, prophesying
only asking me,
where did I fall from,
how to climb back to the shade
or some, where to go on from now
not one needed carrying,
only, go behind me in case my blood
drips too much.
april 13, 12
everyone's wounds
were layered and beautiful
but bleeding
shining dark on pale
drained in the sun
dust rising to drink from these fountains
and i wasn't sure i could carry them all
back to the shade, damp, uphill, in turn
they each woke from their falls
talking nonsense
and making circles in their sentences
to convince me it was not a sign
when i begged them not to talk
as if their brains had come loose
they each sat up smiling, prophesying
only asking me,
where did I fall from,
how to climb back to the shade
or some, where to go on from now
not one needed carrying,
only, go behind me in case my blood
drips too much.
april 13, 12
Weather Report
the park today rather than breakfast
and sleep
for it is not really sleep
and tomorrow will rain
tomorrow a walk
for the next day will be sun again
and the shoes will dry
april 2012
and sleep
for it is not really sleep
and tomorrow will rain
tomorrow a walk
for the next day will be sun again
and the shoes will dry
april 2012
Walking Calves, Train Car Calves
The girls on their walking calves
their train car balance
come here to make a life
but walk into this half light
through this haze and shine
checker their skin
it's theirs and a stranger's
gain their bodies for their minds
some coming kind
some going kind
of sight
on their walking calves
and latest train car balance
they ride.
jan 29, 12
their train car balance
come here to make a life
but walk into this half light
through this haze and shine
checker their skin
it's theirs and a stranger's
gain their bodies for their minds
some coming kind
some going kind
of sight
on their walking calves
and latest train car balance
they ride.
jan 29, 12
Listening Thru a Glass, Darkly
My hearing has not been good lately
the kettle world turned up too long
i watch the reflection of my hand
in its streaked silver
i watch your reflection in the gathered condensation
when you tell me what you see
i make a noise that means, i'm listening
it's not a lie, but it is a dream.
jan23, 2012
the kettle world turned up too long
i watch the reflection of my hand
in its streaked silver
i watch your reflection in the gathered condensation
when you tell me what you see
i make a noise that means, i'm listening
it's not a lie, but it is a dream.
jan23, 2012
Wind and Rain Letter
What have you done wind and rain?
What have you scattered into rivulets, into rivers
What have you sent through the clouds, blue as blood
What have you strummed and rung
What have you sung through to a cry
What have you flayed and staked
What have you turned out and smashed
and dragged, tooth and nail
What have you thrown, doors and windows
and bets and matches
What have you blown out?
mar 2012
What have you scattered into rivulets, into rivers
What have you sent through the clouds, blue as blood
What have you strummed and rung
What have you sung through to a cry
What have you flayed and staked
What have you turned out and smashed
and dragged, tooth and nail
What have you thrown, doors and windows
and bets and matches
What have you blown out?
mar 2012
Winter Pieta
Fastened and bound
in denim and wool
in denim and wool
days on days in succession
almost procession
almost ceremony
mutual aggression
Ribs clenched against cold
and the earth's own body
packed tighter and tighter
against ours
We tensile march through one another
steadily toward denser degrees
limestone into marble
veined with crushed sediment
At last a winter Pieta
one as crucified as the other.
dec 2011
Dragon Guts
Track brindles our bodies
until
the shadow of a train belly blots them
What once was sound
swallows whole
flocks of thought
and walk and word
And down that throat
for the known now
stretched to a shout
we are dragon guts
dragon tongue
dragon song
april 2012
Physically they flicker
under
now not nowuntil
the shadow of a train belly blots them
What once was sound
swallows whole
flocks of thought
and walk and word
And down that throat
for the known now
stretched to a shout
we are dragon guts
dragon tongue
dragon song
april 2012
Any Other Word
i forget my name
comes the end of the page
and a pause, too long
love comma
a blank margin, generous
as a dry mouth
rough tongue
it slides around
gelatinous ink
waiting to be wrung
nothing rings
love comma
nothing
love comma
hole
love comma
margin
love comma
i hope you know.
if it were any other word
i could skip it.
mar 7, 12
comes the end of the page
and a pause, too long
love comma
a blank margin, generous
as a dry mouth
rough tongue
it slides around
gelatinous ink
waiting to be wrung
nothing rings
love comma
nothing
love comma
hole
love comma
margin
love comma
i hope you know.
if it were any other word
i could skip it.
mar 7, 12
Grass Eaters
To our lips
we sucked
at one another's hands
inside caves light stained
ingrown wire and corrugated beams
little boy memories
layered like worlds
shifting plate and sinew
among us stone
and marbled selves
eyes wide color squeezed
language stretched to fray
composed in jerks
crumbled of sudden
fallen through mirrors
in betweens multiplying
like sobs
To our lips
we pulled
at one another's grapnel cables.
mar 7, 2012
we sucked
at one another's hands
inside caves light stained
ingrown wire and corrugated beams
little boy memories
layered like worlds
shifting plate and sinew
among us stone
and marbled selves
eyes wide color squeezed
language stretched to fray
composed in jerks
crumbled of sudden
fallen through mirrors
in betweens multiplying
like sobs
To our lips
we pulled
at one another's grapnel cables.
mar 7, 2012
Our Bruise
The bruise you put under my lip
tucked up in the thin shade
did not clot
but burrowed deeper through
made a swell against
my hidden teeth
ached pressed into them
seared when i washed my mouth
hot with mouthful
after mouthful
dragged itself along the side of my tongue
back further than i can examine
arced into the smooth cavity over my throat
and fell or rolled down to all my weaknesses
pooling into the spaces where i am missing
spaces i coil around, tightly, pinching them numb
until even the arches i rely on
sing in tremble
from the joint of my toes to the heel
anchored and dense
your bruise rings even there.
mar 7, 2012
tucked up in the thin shade
did not clot
but burrowed deeper through
made a swell against
my hidden teeth
ached pressed into them
seared when i washed my mouth
hot with mouthful
after mouthful
dragged itself along the side of my tongue
back further than i can examine
arced into the smooth cavity over my throat
and fell or rolled down to all my weaknesses
pooling into the spaces where i am missing
spaces i coil around, tightly, pinching them numb
until even the arches i rely on
sing in tremble
from the joint of my toes to the heel
anchored and dense
your bruise rings even there.
mar 7, 2012
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