a hairspray mist
hangs in the air
with a cigarette smoke aftertaste
reminds me of growing up
of grownups
now i’m a pot pie
vented and steaming
full of meat
full of gravy
and of graves
Tag: words
breezes (20171024)
not so much voice
as brute force
this dry santa ana
sandblasting smooth edges
off a dead man’s curves
pitting and chipping away
at softness
whatever softness we have left
dust scratches the throat
under the lids when the eyes shut
the eyes of the dead will itch forever
with copper keeping them blind
don’t forget to tip
the ferryman so
when it’s my time to cross
if i have to hang out in hell
at least i won’t be stacking stones
to build a stairway
out of my own prayers
i’ll teach him
to build a sail
and he can lay down his oar
put his hand to his ear
and prognosticate
the direction of the wind
no warning (20171023)
a bone will creak
before it breaks
much like a dried branch
stepped on in summer
that makes the birds
go silent
but muscle
say
–a heart, for example–
will make no sound before
shattering like glass
or perhaps it is beyond
human hearing
——
tattle (20171022)
layer by layer
i will open the old man up
and we’ll see
if he keeps that smile
plastered on his face
we’ll see
if the light finally goes out
in that ruined eye
we’ll see
if he kept his heart in his body
like a good boy
or
if he stashed it away
in the walls
or
under the floorboards
to a rat (20171021)
dead rat
already stiff
by my car tire
i never hit you
nor bore you malice
intact
it seems you
were prey
of neither cat nor hawk
your black
eyes shine
reflecting a late
afternoon sun
you were never
my friend
but i wonder
if you were poisoned
or just looking for shade
and if you knew today’s dawn
was your last
in medias res (20171019)
close your eyes
and grit your teeth
this is going to hurt
this is going to feel good
this is going to make you forget but
this is going to be memory
let the feeling separate you
from your skin like a sunday chicken
on a weight watcher’s plate
let yourself be blind
feel the ten thousand needles
each and every single one of them
necessary
delivering
deliverance
firmly in hand
eyes closed
eyes closing
because when they open
and your breath is your own again
the moment is over
is past
is memory
falling short (20171017)
there were words
but
i couldn’t
put them together
the right way
they floundered
like silver-scaled fish
dumped from a bucket
thrashing on a dock
they had to be
pushed back into
the ocean
untitled (20171016)
i want to put my hands
in your hair
you are like filament
glowing in an
incandescent bulb
hard to look at
until you hear
that tinkling snap
and then darkness
and i wished i had risked
the blindness of looking
rather than the blindness
of looking away
or extinction
thin lines (20171015)
we went to a fingerprint party
all the finest detectives were there
dressed in their best suits
that smelled of cigarettes
and stale coffee
they showed us to our very own table
we sat next to a lovely couple
a serial killer and a lawyer
they met during the trial
and i didn’t bother to ask
who was who
i waited until the food
came
and watched them eat
but i still couldn’t tell
and finally
you got tired
of my paying attention to everything
except you
and you left
right before dessert
tiramisu
served in a tin tray
halfku (20171014)
today
even the traffic
a river flowing
Words and Feathers 