you walk up the stairs
behind you
i ascend, my hands on your hips
i feel your bones
and as you step up
a practical lesson in your anatomy
as your thigh, so close to me, rises
your hip rotates up
first the right
then the left
and then again
and again
until we reach the top
Category: Poems
Poem 20150228
turner made quick sketches
of buildings on fire
of the crowds milling–
less people than mealworms
shaken in a box–
while smoke pillared into the sky
and orange tongues licked
at the clouds and down
into the sluggish thames
Poem 20150227b
let the world be made of skin
let the world be covered in skin
so that when we walk across her
barefooted, dew clinging to our legs
a chill might run across her flesh
the earth should moan with pleasure
under our weight, as we press upon her
pressing our skin against her skin
Poem 20150227
FRIDAY HAIKU
FRIDAY HAIKU
FRIDAY HAIKU
from the roof’s apex
the phoebe watches us when
the dog sees a squirrel
Poem 20150226
spring is still just a word
though the temperatures soar
into the seventies and eighties
winter is the official season
but you can’t reason with a tree
and i hope the bees are not loafing around
Poem 20150225
in fall
the leaves explode with color
and then fade
and fade
fade
becoming dry
becoming dryness
cracking underfoot
and in fall
the sky changes from the summer blue
to wisps of cloud
and then gray
and gray
gray
until the blue sky
is a memory
Poem 20150224
it was easy being twenty-five
when twenty-five was the age to be
and everything could be met
with vigor and interest
and a girl turning with
her hair floating as she spun around
was as much a cause for celebration
as a birthday
or a new car
or a job offer
or the changing of the season
Poem 20150223
shaken and chosen at random
a box of leftover hearts
chalky fake fruit flavors
and their messages
te amo
sweet pea
let’s kiss
first kiss
xoxo
true love
each one threatens to break a tooth
each one doesn’t taste like it should
and you eat every one
Poem 20150222
everything is made of glass
words fall out of my mouth
and break
and shatter
musically against the floor
Poem 20150221
with the song stuck in his head
and rain pouring from the sky
he drives his car
he turns on the radio to unstick
the song on endless loop in his head
but the radio is playing the song as well
the air in the car is like ice
to defog the window
the food in his stomach sits like ice
and he’s not sure what he ate
he drives past her house
song in his head
song on the radio
ice in his face
ice in his stomach
and wishes just this once
that she would be coming out
or just getting home
and she would see his car
and wave
Words and Feathers 