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
Tag: writer
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
little friends (20171013)
i nudge the mantis
away from the closing door
he keeps all his limbs
mealtime (20171011)
if food only went one way
–forget about the conservation
of matter here–
if food only went one way
how long would it take
to get sick of chewing
and swallowing
how many words would we have
for full then
more than inuit words for snow
let’s say that you can
only eat so many
meals before
it stops going down
starts backing up
you can’t eat anymore
because your last meal
a pastrami sandwich that looked
great on the menu
now hangs greasy and wet
from your mouth
you chin shines and
the thought of putting one
more thing in your mouth
is enough to make you
want to pull out your teeth
with pliers
and sew your lips closed
how long do we have to sit
at a table set with ignorance
who the hell keeps passing the rolls
picture in picture (20171010)
i look at a photograph
a woman with short, curly hair
stands in front of a window
holding her phone up
as if she is taking a picture
i half close my eyes
aqueous images
parade across my vision
all specimens for inspection
under a microscope
one transforms into a jet
slides from right to left
top to bottom
it looks like she is taking a photo
while a plane descends erratically
behind her back
the crash inevitable
i take a mental picture of her
her hair is short and curly
the window in front of her
is closed
she is trapped between
a plane
and a plane
pressed between dimensions
her picture
is a picture of a window
that is closed
her hair is curly
it descends erratically
inevitably crashing
against the nape of her neck
she is a specimen for inspection
under a microscope
Words and Feathers 