i want to worship
but the only goddess
who will listen
in is a bottle
of salad dressing
Tag: poetry
pieces (20170501)
silent tracks this morning
but so much glass
glittering on the ground
were the wind to pick up
the air would cut me
to pieces
i follow the rails in shoes
with soles so thin
i feel every facet of every stone
trying to pierce my feet
though empty, i have seen the trains
not the romantic locomotives
with porters and bewatched conductors
crowded dining cars
mysterious liaisons
but industrial bulk behemoths
the color of rust
the odor of old burned oil
delivering invisibles
in closed cars
i walk the middle of the track
wood
gravel
wood
gravel
iron on either side
a shirtless jogger approaches
loping toward me
glistening in the sun
i imagine myself
in a coat hanging past the knee
a dusty, wide-brimmed hat
arm relaxed but ready
to draw at my side
another poet’s words
write themselves nearby
first in soot
then in blood:
inspired by beauty
betrayed by lust
abandon[ed] by greed
enslaved by guilt
the jogger turns
the wind rises
and i am cut to pieces
baggage (20170430)
the celestial beast
casts a shadow across
the moon as heavy
as god’s anchor
a sea boils, somewhere
and it stinks
of cans of tuna
and anchovies in oil
——
Last Day of National Poetry Writing Month!
Day 30
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tidal pull (20170429)
the ocean lives
in an empty
soup can
in the field
behind my house
i once found
a conch shell
bleached white
in that field
the ocean lived
there, too
the ocean lives
in my heart
salty tributaries
find their ways
to fingers, ears
the ducts of my eyes
you are too small
to be a moon
yet your song
pulls on the ocean
shaping it
before it flattens out
once more
——
It’s National Poetry Writing Month!
Day 29
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artificial clouds (20170428)
chem trails glow orange
even the planes love sunset
clear spring evening
——It’s National Poetry Writing Month!
Day 28
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an indifferent lifting of the shoulders (20170427)
i shrug out of you like
an ill-fitting suit
an old man’s funeral jacket
a mummy’s dusty wrappings
the cracked, dry skin of a pudding
left too long uncovered in the fridge
a plate of overcooked liver and onions
the liver my own pulled from my guts
and cooked over the fire in my bowels
the bruised peel of a banana
the exact size, shape, and consistency
of a healthy adult shit
i shrug out of you
and you don’t even know it
——
National Poetry Writing Month–almost over!
Day 26
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peas and gravy (20170426)
they tell you
to settle down
when you’re a kid
and you’ve eaten all
the halloween candy
that has been inspected
before bedtime
they tell you
one day you’ll settle down
make yourself a little
place in the world
build a life
they tell you
things will settle down
when chaos has erupted
like a 4th grade science fair
volcano
but what
they’re telling you
is to settle
because we’re all down
here
and why should you
see things
from an elevated height
——
National Poetry Writing Month Winds Down!
Day 26
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blossoming (20170425)
cotton candy pinks and blues
clouds hang in still bare branches
a sunset bloom
——
More National Poetry Writing Month!
Day 25
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sunken eyes (20170423)
the bird sings the night sky
fading blues to pinks to
the solitary color of its heart
three trills, short
one cry, long
a heartbeat separated by chambers
struck out of order
a solitary sound of night
listen
the rustle of feathers
listen
the quiet of parting leaves
the river of the freeway
the black heart beating
——
It’s National Poetry Writing Month!
Day 23
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consideration of impatience (20170422)
go ahead and make me wait
i’ve got the patience of job
tied up in a bindle stick
over my shoulder
i can bust it out whenever
but i know you like me
impatient, eager
like ice melting off
a fingertip
my jaw clenches shut
and i breathe through
my nose because
if i open my mouth
there’s no telling
what part of your body
i will target first
——
It’s National Poetry Writing Month!
Day 22
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Words and Feathers 