Tag: poem

Poem 20150518

crow

the trail is easy
it says so on the map
level
flat
easy to traverse

making my way through
the overhanging trees
past the dead wood
storm or man felled
and overtaken as often
as i overtake children
families dogs the elderly
the ground is at times
hard, broken sandstone
or soft, powdered earth

when i come to a clearing
where the ground flattens out
a smooth place near a creek
once a mighty river
that carved out this channel
and wore down the red earth
i look into the distance
and see the cliffs rising

red columns and tall and proud
as any european cathedral
thats what they call it
cathedral rock

to get a better view
i must cross the creek
removing my socks and shoes
like i’m about to enter a holy place
and wade through icey water
up to my knees
the current almost catches me

but i stay upright
and make my way through the dense
growth again
spilling out onto a plain
and were the sun agreeable
i could say that i am in its shadow

on my return journey
i encounter no one
and have no words to speak
to them anyway

the earth is red
and i think
this is the blood of the earth
rising to the surface
not an omen or warning
not becuase she is wounded
but because that is what
you need for true communion
i think of those years wasted
eating crackers and drinking grape juice
when the asnwer was under my feet
and i want to bury my heart in her

Poem 20150517

crow

leaving the airport
was like leaving any
airport
though the scenery
had more cactus
and more drought tolerant plants
than where we’re from
but otherwise
the scenery didn’t seem that
different
just another town
that looks like it’s stuck
in the time period
it was built
as all those other
suburban sprawling
time-stuck towns

until

you turn

a curve

and it’s like they
made the road
that way on purpose
a magician carefully
choreographing
a trick
to make your jaw hit the floor

and suddenly
the desert is foreign
and like love
it is beautiful
and terrifying
and overwhelming
like you’re traveling
through a movie set
a painting
someting you’ve seen
a thousand times
but flattened out before

and now
it looms
and now
it takes you
and you want
it to

Poem 20150516

crow

tomorrow we
fling ourselves
into the sky
into a red
ocean of sand
into the arms
of grey green
embraces

those sands
those rocks
the breezes whisper
over them
they dial
your cell phone
a call from
an unknown number
and you want to walk out
into the sea
though
you have never set foot
in a desert

Poem 20150513b

crow

recycle everything
squeeze the last drop out
like you’re rolling up the end of
a tube of toothpaste
or wringing out a wet dishrag
use a spatula to scrape around
the inside of the skull
and your finger when the spatula
isn’t flexible enough
collect it all in a pile
so that you can sort through
the oozing grey matter
searching for any idea or word
overlooked
or not used to the point of
frayed edges and
blurred meanings

Poem 20150513

crow

swiftly moving clouds filled the sky
our hands were coated with clay
as we tried to answer the question why
before the ending of the day

this thing before us, so like a man
seemed all but to move, yet lacking breath
stayed still upon the earth–you began
to mourn a life that could not know death

since it had not yet been alive
these tears fell upon its eyes, washing them clear
it rose and and walked and began to thrive
and faced the sunset without fear

and you and i, still holding hands
watched it leave for greener lands

Poem 20150512

crow

according to my high school
biology teacher
we are mostly water

sacks of salty liquid refreshment
a little fat
a little meat
some gristle and bones

but even the meat and bones
are mostly water
and if you could siphon that off
maybe reclaim the water
for the drought
and apply enough pressure and time
to the bones and powder-soft organs
we would all be diamonds
shiny, hard scintillating gems

Poem 20150510

crow

we shake the tree
and fruit
one single piece falls
it lands with a solid thump
in the grass
rolls in a half circle
and stops at our feet

it’s enough to share
and we do
but it tastes bitter
i choke down a bite
she chokes down hers

how is it, i ask

she grimaces but says, it’s good
don’t you think so, too

so this is a lie, i think
swallowing another awful bite
i think it’s great, i say,
better than anything else we’ve had

but i think about the false
sentiments in advertising
and how this is going to come back
and bite us in the ass