Author: crow

I'm a writer and a dabbler. I live in Southern California.

Poem 20150125

crow

when i walk outside
the sky is black and filled with stars
and a milky sliver of moon
the dog runs ahead
and finds a corner of the yard
he digs the soft earth
i tell him to stop, but
he doesn’t take orders
from me
i am not the boss of him
he flops down into the small hollow
he has made
content

it’s then that i notice
the wooden fence
that divides my backyard
from my neighbor’s backyard
is missing
there is a track in the soft earth
a line
to indicate where it once was
but no barrier between me
and the unkempt yard
beyond

the dog looks on
sees the neighbor’s min pin
in a chain link dog run
but makes no sound
acting as if the fence is there
solid
and impassible

the entirety of the fence is gone
and I can see into the cul-de-sac beyond
at the dark street barely illuminated by lamps
and the darker still homes
without any lights on
their inhabitants asleep
or hiding
from this lack of fences

you’re standing there
just on the other side of the line
skin luminous and white
like the moon
hair dark and flowing
like shadows cast by clouds
covering the moon
and i reach out
and our fingertips
touch

and the dog scratches his ear
silent
and
content

Poem 20150123

crow

we three are in a room
crowded with old furniture, books, cushions and
the warm glow of firelight
like something out of a hoarder’s edwardian sitting room

you’re talking about our upcoming trip
the three of us are taking a ship
and you’re so beautiful talking about
the man you’re going to meet there

when you cross the room
i can see the soft red shimmer
of your camisole glitter
under the sheer fabric of your shirt

i try to hold you still
but you dance out of my arms
so in love that you are transported
out of this place and out of this time

I am not on the ship when it departs
i watch it pull out of the harbor
and my phone goes off when you realize
i am not there

“you can take another ship,” you say
“there’s a faster one leaving and
you can actually beat us there”
i do what you ask

the ship is old, crowded, and faster than the pleasure barge
we three had planned on sharing
but i have heard whispers about a trail of broken hulls
on the ocean floor, litter for the mermaids to pick over

i arrive still wet with spray from standing on the deck
surprised that your ship has magically arrived early
and the two of you have already disembarked
headed in opposite directions to your respective loves

i know where and when you are meeting him since
you speak of nothing else
and i perform magic of my own, thinking to get there first
i wander like a ghost but find that you are already in his arms

and i wonder about my need to follow you to this shore
to witness this with my own eyes
and wished that I had thrown myself into the fire in that study
or overboard the ship into the cold embrace of a mermaid

Poem 20150122

crow

leave a message
after the beep
or
you could leave a massage
but that’s more
intimate
and probably involved
and might require
someone
to cross state lines
so that i could receive
the laying on
of hands

beep

Poem 20150121

crow

we sit together
across from each other
the philosophy paper
between us
the book
between us
and we work through
the platonic dialogue
with all those ideas
that seem deep
and funny
and you take notes
and you laugh
and you smile
and you get up to get me
a glass of water
and I watch your hips roll
as you walk into the kitchen
and I think
how small you are
small enough to be picked up
to be carried through your house
though
your parents
in the other room
might not appreciate that

you return with my water
smiling
and we get back to work
then we slip into talk about
english class
and the girl who has literary friends
who was trying to one-up
the teacher
and you slide my glass over
between us
and you arrange your notes
between us
and this is as close as we
get

Poem 20150120

crow

you grind
you hit the button and repeat the past
you grind
you grind
you hit the button and repeat the past
but the past was different then
than what the past is now
you repeat the past but it is not the same past
and you grind
and you repeat
the lights light
the buttons gets pressed
the cycle starts over again
and again
and again
and you hit
you hit the
the button is hit

Poem 20150118

crow

there was no angry buzzing
no warning that some line
had been crossed
nothing to indicate
a perimeter had been violated
yet every word
flew like a wasp
refusing to die after
delivering its venom
returning again
and
again