the sky a silver grey
with few blue spots
that promised sun
a lie the whole day
instead the air rose like
miasma from a swamp
thick on the skin
thick in the lungs
and still no sign
of the lightning
we were promised
floating and leaving no trace
the sky a silver grey
with few blue spots
that promised sun
a lie the whole day
instead the air rose like
miasma from a swamp
thick on the skin
thick in the lungs
and still no sign
of the lightning
we were promised
there’s something disturbing about
seeing the inside of a computer
or tablet after the shattered glass
has been lifted off and you
reveal the guts
mostly batteries, really
and you can recognize the fan
the tiny hard drive and the video
cable but so little else
tiny miracles laid bare
and still no clue as to what
burned out
who hid the cloud
when the sun came out
it was here
just a second ago
keeping everything cool
and under a gray light
but now the shadows run
and shrink under our feet
and sweat runs down the
back of my neck
and the unrelenting blue
of the sky is like
a nightlight when
you’re trying to sleep
The Friday Haiku, brought you by Dunkin Donuts
—–
national donut day
a chocolate old fashioned
sugar induced coma
the ice cracks
when it drops into the tea
a translucent cube
shattering
when the tea
still warm
surrounds it
i fish a single
miniature glacier free
and note the fissures
are brown
the ice no longer pure
or clear now
invaded by the tea
i think
–the pressure got to it–
but it’s only tea
let the hands move
they move
they move on
they move of their own accord
a truth in their movement
a truth in how
they slide
the hands slide
the hands pause
and trace shapes
and trace curves
let them trace
let them draw
let them follow
and grasp
and hold
each hand
five fingers true
and a truth in the muscles
and in the tendons
and in the bones
and in the marrow of the bones
and in the anima that moves them
always with interested dance
ugly in applying
do the drunk hungry position
and so so so
hungry for remedy road
get it in me
just my obsessed position
so screw this tired
this
all new stories
no reprints
the western bluebird hops along
the top of the fence
but stops long enough
to have his photo taken
a photo opp
on his tour of
thrilling tales
of home improvement
the two women in kimonos
pause in the flooded street
sharing a blue umbrella
the views are only
the beginning
we’re going to need
a rosetta stone to
this is the last day of the month
the month i was born in
in case you wondered why i–
i don’t know if i care about the month
the month is just a collection of weeks
weeks a collection of days
days that are streaming past me faster
faster than i can ever remember
remembering when the summer would stretch
stretch on forever like a cat caught mid
caught mid stretch, i guess
i guess
watch out for rattlesnakes
is what he says on the next leg
of the hike
and i keep my eyes on the dirt track
as if there’s not enough to think about
with the vague threat of
mountain lions and bobcats
coyotes too, i guess
and when he points out the
tarantula wasp
someone asks the redundant question
are there tarantulas here
of course there are
it has to feed its young after all
so i keep my eyes on the dirt track
and lift them occasionally to scan
the scrub for winged or coiled rattlers
or sometimes to get a look at my surroundings
it’s all scrub brush
all dusty chaparral
with an occasional lizard
or roadrunner
or hawk wheeling in the sky
it’s beautiful here, too
and lonely in its way
with the sun burning off
and the chatter of the group
and the sighing wind
on the ridges
in the canyons