dog–my companion
gutter full of stilled water
we race with the moon
Tag: water
on being dropped feet first from a plane without a parachute into an icy sea (20161218)
the sudden impact
shattered tarsals
launched femurs
\cracked iliac crests
synovial sacs burst
as splintered bones
tore through bone
and much softer
more fragile tissues
–would you do it again?
–probably
water (20161216)
the dog left a footprint
in the mud
that the rain washed away
ocean hand (20160901)
we don’t shiver under the sea
not because we aren’t cold
not because we aren’t afraid
but ocean pressure is
the warmth of a hand without fingers
——
saltwater (20160628)
begin in water
a stinking slime
of protein chains
so many links
of uncut summer fat sausages
emerge from the last life
dripping wet and bloody
emerge into the next life
pave the way
dripping
wet
bloody
our veins, rivers
leading to the ocean
of the heart
the salty water of
our throbbing veins
our throbbing heart
one ocean with many names
one heart in so many chests
we float
we drown
we float again
——
Poem 20160304
the water is so heavy that i could skip
across the surface like a stone
i could bounce one-two-three
if i were lighter
but the water can’t bear my weight
any more than the earth could
so my lungs fill with thick
warm sweet salty water
i must be drowning
in amniotic fluid
so close to
rebirth
but the fire burning through
my marrow through my bones
makes cinders in my blood
the fire wants cleansing
to cast off the cycle
of birth and rebirth
burning and drowning
at the same time
i close my eyes
i think of you
i open my eyes
i think of you
Poem 20160124
he had the feet of a snake
and the wings of a hare
like many desert creatures
carried a pack of brambles
on his back to capture
the morning’s moisture
i asked
–old man, why do you toil
setting stone upon stone
every day when the crows
steal them at night
and carry them to the ocean
where they drop them in
sea?
he placed yet another boulder
upon the pile
dust covered his face
his hands were those of a coyote
he laughed
–to bring water to the desert
Poem 20160102
still water
cut by boats
cut by the sun
shining like a knife
across the surface
still water
supporting floating gulls and cormorants
lazily chasing darting sandpipers
–somewhere out of sight
the bark of a seal
a dog shakes the winter water
from his coat
emerging from the sea
smiling as only a dog can smile
in this mix of warm sun
cold ocean and fresh air
Poem 20151228
i glow
i am a furnace
hot and steel-forging
and the blades i produce
make damascus weep
each word an edge
each word a razor so fine
it slices my tongue as it
leaves my mouth
i quench my blades
my words
in the cool water of you
in the satisfying draughts
of your eyes
of your words
which are sheaths to my own
Poem 20151222
the water trickled under the fence
at first
carving out a channel
through freshly laid earth
swelling
rising over the edge
of the sidewalk
carrying soil
over the curb
a dirty waterfall
washing down the street
to puddle and waste
the water carried the earth
as the water always carries the earth
eroding it
and making new canyons
the dry riverbed
in sedona
rusty red from being submerged
millions of years ago
now hot and dusty
and waiting for rain
to carry boulders the size of jeeps
over cliffs
dirty waterfalls
earth carried
in the invisible hands
of water
Words and Feathers 