I sat on the floor
near a wall
thinking
about now
and then
while
trying to stop
thinking
about the moment
I’m in
and failing
for to resist
the moment demands
the time to attend
(September 14, 2017)
-
Envisioned
He abjures other’sInterpretationsWith a sullen shockThat they’d dareTranslate himInto what they desired.He was no moreTheir dark whispersThan what he claimedFor himself: eachA hurried collectionOf presumptionsAnd clichés reducedTo a simple tinctureUsed like belladonnaTo disguise hisSeductive visionAs an honest truth.(September 11, 2017) -
A Way of Writing
like a loose threadfrom an old sweaterpull a lineout of contextfor the soundsit holdsthen take anothersolely on whimand bend themlike gossipsto make connectionsout of airuntil you aremore than you were(September 8, 2017) -
Problematic
I have difficultyWith coherence—Or perhaps just change:My resistance to one,Solidifies the other.(September 3, 2017) -
i sound out words in an unknown language
by
“pale light by which it reads itself’–Michael Palmer, Light Moves 3almost morning almost nightthe cloudy day verges on raini know figures on the wall as walla cuneiform by which i’m accounteda permanence impressed to clayto which i’m owed as recompensei understand little i read nowthe words slur thick in my mouthinarticulate i shuffle a dancehoping my steps fall surebeneath this pale neon moontell me again i sing who i am(September 3, 2017) -
Ways of Knowing
by
“the outline of what he learns”–Anne Carson, Eros the BittersweetHierarchical needsCreate stone stacksTo a non-existent god.Doubt displaces belief,I believe. Love needsNo proof to know.Not only the clearPath lays the wayThrough a dark wood.Side steps by tanglesAllow departures pastShapes only alluded.I hold the darkCognizant itselfOf more than I am.(August 29, 2017) -
after incomplete statements of desire
Nothing ends,as nothing happens:vague and inchoate.It falls like dustto fill the invisiblelesions and crackscarved in yourmisguided and mistakendesires,a passive constructwhich required moreto consummate.(August 29, 2017) -
Ars Poetica
a line opensas it usually doesinto anotherbends towarda new wayfor an old thoughtas a rosebends alonga trellisin slow searchof the sun’stransitI used to worryafraidof my shadowsafraid in the darkI would losethe sourceI don’t knowanymorefrom where it comesuntil it’s therewith me againall along(August 28, 2017) -
From One, the Many
by
To write thisCreatesA personaTo read thisFormsAnotherThen a thirdOpensBetween(August 25, 2017) -
Witness to a Dream
He stands within someone’s dream;It cannot be his own,For he is awake and chanting.The square is full; people watch,Distracted,As he starts to speak.They listen as if his wordsWere under waterTrapped in tangled weeds.He sees the words in air,And cannot questionHis own clarity.Without hope of redemption,He sees what he sees.(August 22, 2017) -
The Dance Takes Shape
As he arranges his explanations,He dances a quirky dance,More of a twitch and stumbleThan Fred Astaire’s monochromeGrace. All his interpretationsAre framed in such a mannerAs to hide his ragged edges.He has become the illusionOf flickering flames: seenThen unseen between shadowsDancing light upon a wall.Yet, he is no cave dweller,No shaman dancing the nightBeneath an occluded moon;He shuffles stories like tarot cardsFlipped before an anxious heart.The closer he comes to knowHimself, the farther he slipsAway from a larger world.(August 19, 2017) -
Hope’s Rationale
He thinksHe livesWithinCasting clayAnd allThe projectionsAnd reflectionsMust beBroken awayHe thinksHe will beFreeHe thinksHe is madeOf wax(August 16, 2016) -
Chorus
by
We listen if we listenOr not to the songWe sing withoutKnowing the song’s sungSolely by ourselvesTo ourselves as we walkPast others singing as wellTo themselves their songWe cannot hear like oursSince what we sing is oursAnd what they sing is theirsThe resonance we shareTranscends our melodiesAs oceans transcend waves(August 15, 2017)
