while the rain falls
i wait for each drop
to ascend
i wait for the bark to grow
in the center of the trees
pith and heartwood tangling
like strand of hair
hiding the truth about growth
about the scab of time
about the lie of it
i wait for the clock
not to rewind
not to stand still
but to ring its alarm bell
to show that every
second of every minute
of every day happens
here and now
i wait and single drop
reverses course
singing as it rises
Tag: time
without mediation, wolf takes matters into his own hands–20191201
only his head
is big enough
to fit inside
–you have a problem, wolf says
he takes a long drag
the cigarette coal glows and dies
like a highway patrol car’s lights
–you think time only moves
in one direction
–you’re hung up on a metaphor
time is a river, you think
once you pass over a spot
it’s gone forever
i push my back against
the dry cave wall
wolf followed me here through the rain
worst storm in fifty years
now his coat is ragged and sopping
while i have a small fire
a bundle of sticks
i beat him to the cave
by all rights
i get dibs on shelter
he gets the storm
–it’s all good
he spits the butt into my tiny flames
–i’ll be back ten minutes ago
NaPoWriMo 2018 Day 4
a time traveler
must have three hearts
one for the past
one for the present
one for the future
each beats fully
only in the era visited
my ribcage is too small
to contain twelve chambers
and i am going to have
to decide when i will give up
before i break a rib
nails (20161130)
if you could find
a nail from the cross
what color would it be
stained red and
glistening yet
after all these years
or just a pile of rust
(still the right color)
but destroyed by the
slow burn of oxygen
and time
time for dirty hands (20161112)
time to get your hands dirty
time to get your knuckles bloody
time to snarl like a tiger
and leap coiled spring that you are
made so against your will
but really
this is the only fight worth
clenching your fist for
gritting your teeth for
we are all stars
let’s give them one hell
of a sunburn
bones (20160529)
count the bones
twenty-one
white and glistening
polished and shining
these are private bones
these are bones
that have never seen a graveyard
they clack and rattle
they tick like a clock
Poem 20160414
an inverse
relationship–
as the space
between us two
has increased
we become less
less like friends, less like ourselves
a direct
relationship–
as the time
has decreased
of all our
conversations
the words themselves grow shorter
like a bird
it’s an event
when you move
my aim falters
you take flight
you disappear
and my field of view empties
——
the secret keeper
Weekly Writing Prompt #32
(5) Words: | SPACE | FRIEND | EVENT | MOVE | AIM |
(This week it’s a Whitney; hat tip to Doug at Elusive Trope for introducing me to this form.)
Poem 20160318
our hearts
beat out
the same
rhythm
but mistimed
as if i were from
the past
and you are here
in the present
and we see each other
as ghosts see the living
through a veil or a mist
or as if we boarded
the same train
felt the rattle of the rails
at the same crossings
sat in adjacent seats
my hand on the armrest
where you place your hand
me looking out the window
where you lean your head
fogging it with your breath
the same journey
but on different schedules
different timetables
Poem 20160203
you may walk alone
still you sense you are secure
i stand here at your elbow
even distantly
across both the earth and time
my hand rests upon your hip
—–
Poem 20151126
everything can use a little editing
a gentle stroke of the pen
to make
what does come out
what should come out
–wait, i didn’t mean that–
would never be uttered again
because everything would be composed
pored over
marked up
submitted as galleys
and approved
before the words pass
carrying less weight
perhaps for the extended process
conversations would stretch
for days
and saying i love you
would take from the first glimpse
of morning sunlight
to when the full moon sinks below
the horizon
Words and Feathers 