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
Poem 20150117
my hands cover my eyes
fingers made of flame press
against the lids
i wait for my paper skin to ignite
light up the darkness!
rout the shadows
and drive them out
fertilize the ground with ashes
and water my seedlings
with weeping
see what grows
Poem 20150116
with her back arched
she presses her head into my palm
and purrs
Poem 20150115
among the smooth grass
above the markers
three graces smile
holding hands
each looking in a different
direction
only one has faced death before
and it is her constant companion
a shadow that no amount of light
can banish nor darkness obscure
the other girls will never know
the same way
the touch of his cold still hand
in their own small, warm, ever-moving hands
but the soldiers
who wait beneath their little feet
who wait beneath the warm loam
who wait silently at attention forever
have shared this with her
before their transmutations
and now as she smiles
on this sunny day
Poem 20150114
in the middle of the kitchen
the cat sits
and watches while dinner is prepared
like the queen that she is
she only deigns to move her head
to track our movements
sometimes we address her
but usually we just
dance around where she
has planted herself
Poem 20150113
her hair falls across her
face as she laughs
embarrassed by something
she herself said
though not louder than
a whisper
suddenly
all of the air seems
to have left the room
and my phone stops
keeping accurate time
Poem 20150112
the atmosphere distorts the starlight
—-twinkle
and what you see now
—-twinkle
is an image out of time, out of space
—-little
what you believe true about that light
—-star
may be old news
—-how i wonder
the star a dusty relic
—-what you are
long gone cold
Poem 20150111
there wasn’t enough room
or light
and my back wasn’t meant to bend
at that angle
though the attic was cold
sweat soaked through my shirts
and all the tools
felt like they kept
slipping
from my aching hands
and then it was time for dinner
which is the same time
as give up o’clock
Poem 20150110
it’s like this
an ant colony
a bee hive
a termite mound
a murder of crows
an unkindness of ravens
a colony of vampire bats
a kettle of piranha fish
a graveyard of skeletons
see, shove those into a blender
pulverize on high
and it’s totally the state of mind
that one of us is in
but i won’t say who
i may point when no one is looking
Poem 20150109b
The
Friday
Haiku
a thousand red eyes
we sit paralyzed, unmoving
traffic jam
