do not mark
the chain
mouthed softly
as she speaks
just submit
quit
accept futility
as your god
then vanish
into the earth
beneath her feet
as you pray for love
in open-mouthed
silence
(May 5, 2014)
-
be not coy
The rose opens to his touch,the petal’s flesh moistbetween his fingers.(May 4, 2014) -
as the wolf bites down
it’s easy to saydon’t be afraidbut when the slaverdrips from the jawsyour fingers pry aparttruth becomes slipperyand fear and luckconspire to justifyall your panicked whispersthrough the solitary dark(May 2, 2014) -
Two Haiku on the Scaffold Steps
by
How soft can one goto deflect the killing blow?The wind flows through leaves.*Another chain’s forgedbending your head to the ground;the axe blade gleams near.(May 2, 2014) -
In Time
by
with this drought the seedoverlooked by the sparrowmust wait for the sunto relent it’s cold greed(April 29, 2014) -
My Fear Finds Me
Within this lightI carry, I am onlyable to see beyondmyself a certain wayinto the darkness.Friends turn as Ienter; in greeting,I nod as if I knowanything morethan who I once was.I bring what I canto the table, scrapsof past ideas I canno longer patchtogether as one.I try to listen,but only sensethe conversation’srhythms and flowdancing in the room.Uncaught in anyear, I watch mymetaphors diegasping in needof explanations.The noise becomesmy silence, a cocoonto comfort into safesolace while the world’sfangs drip in hunger.(April 28, 2014) -
sentence
by
Condemned to a lifeof controlled contentment:to do what’s expected;to play the proper part;to exist not livewithin this labyrinth,I translate my loss of selfinto a cleaner line strippedof loose tangential talk,one where I could rise outof my self-loathing,attempt to fly on the wingsof a stereotype so simpleno explanation would be askedafter the unremarked crash.(April 27, 2014) -
unstable
“the millstonescommenced their grinding again”–Denise LevertovI am onlya tremblein this air,which I gulpas if drowningin a water far deeperthan I could everwade beforeslippingbeneath the surfacewith a lastquick thrash.This morningat the rear of the meeting,I read poetryas they soldtheir promisesof pufferyand changewithout change,and felt fragmentsblister and flakefrom my soullike painted facadesin the sharp summerlight until onlytears remainedto riseagainst the broken levee.(April 26, 2014) -
and always a wolf lurks close by
She wonders where he goesas he turns another corner;she panics she will lose himas he wanders in the wood.He walks in tighter circlesnot knowing tree from tree.He broods into the darkened skyfretting the silence in his laughter.She pads between birch and elmnot knowing all she knows;she finds her way to track himdropping crumbs upon the ground.With another layer of abstraction,we hide within cliché’s expectation.(April 25, 2014) -
poet to priest
by
“no wind is the king’s wind”–Ezra PoundOnce again,you tell mewhat my words mean;not placing words in my mouth,but taking my words,reshaping themto your purposes,an appropriation of intent.Content in your beatific vision,you sit blindedto the insights of dissent,the first slow trembleof the lotusbefore the fall.Be still;know in this silencebetween nowand the damp petalsupon the resurgent ground.(April 24, 2013) -
perhaps
perhaps his heart could holda desire for tomorrowas if the future weremore than not nowa veiled perpetualpessimism of todayperhaps hope propelledhim toward a purposeto provide reasonfor all the troubledmoments of doubtdevouring him like crowsperhaps memory marred himinto a trust with the wayhe wanted to believeevery option presentedas true as beforewhen his story was newperhaps he can open enoughwithin himself for lightto dance away despair’sweary plod and grumbleperhaps he will knowthe joy about him(April 23, 2014) -
lament
I miss your laughterI miss your eyeswhen you laughI miss the loose strandsof hair at your neckI miss your handsas you talkyour handsin my handsyour handson my skinI miss your skinsoft along your claviclethe small of your backI miss you near me in silenceI miss your talkyour intellectyour obsessionsyour angerI miss your passionsyour kissI missyou(April 22, 2014)
