ifeelit
squirminginsidelikeaneel
inmyguts
orsomethinghotandslimy
inmyhands
theoverwhelmingneed
tobreatheoutexhale
whenthereisnoairinside
andthelungs
areemptybutfeelfull
fulloffeeling
fulloftheopposite
ofair
strikewhiletheironishot
everythingstrains
bonescreaktothepoint
of breaking
strikewhilethe–
Tag: breaking
damage (20220412)
this fir tree grew
as twins
two trunks in the soft earth
on the slope
one has fallen
uprooted by wind
betrayed by loose
wet soil
its roots exposed
the twin remains
still tall
but leaning now
trunk twisted
and cracked
they explain nothing
they explain everything
no warning (20171023)
a bone will creak
before it breaks
much like a dried branch
stepped on in summer
that makes the birds
go silent
but muscle
say
–a heart, for example–
will make no sound before
shattering like glass
or perhaps it is beyond
human hearing
——
untitled (20171016)
i want to put my hands
in your hair
you are like filament
glowing in an
incandescent bulb
hard to look at
until you hear
that tinkling snap
and then darkness
and i wished i had risked
the blindness of looking
rather than the blindness
of looking away
or extinction
untitled villanelle (20170622)
move along, there’s nothing here to see
broken bits like discarded crystal spheres
you should know i don’t care if you agree
my workings loosen, all at once set free
while you tell me, beg me, to persevere
move along, there’s nothing here to see
i’m no clock to wind with a secret key
much more like a badly hung chandelier
you should know i don’t care if you agree
the chain creaks and strains–then just debris
against the curling, faded veneer
move along, there’s nothing here to see
time reduces to rust these moons in apogee
an irritating hum of the inner ear
you should know i don’t care if you agree
i’ve had much practice as an absentee
all too soon this sorry shade’ll disappear
move along, there’s nothing here to see
you should know i don’t care if you agree
——
Poem 20151202
tranquility
is what you’re supposed to compose
in tranquility
a recollection
of a feeling
that stirs that feeling anew
and using it like seed money
for a gambler
rolls the dice
and see what feeling
what words
expose themselves
the cheeky little bastards
i am breaking
rending
splitting down the middle
and the words are failing
the words are falling
the words fall
leaves, all
and i am in pieces
and no hands will
bother to reassemble me
Words and Feathers 