Vapid
conversation withered as
steamed spinach, unspiced,
leaking through the room
flat champagne in a smudged
glass, the anemic shuffle of
shapeless shoes, unpolished,
over beige berber carpet, a
hush of the mind, the murmur
of colorless piano music
smiles like plain yogurt, smooth
and digestible, time passing like
milk of magnesium, palatable
as dry toast
3 notes
路
View notes
Intro
slip down the side
of the coulee, huge
white rubber boots
gleaming in july
sun, sweep tea-brown
water into a screw top
cup, and climb slick
crabgrass back to class
under light and lenses,
green bubbles dance
with whip-tailed
paramecia, bottle blue
and clear as stained glass,
gritty earth turns to amber
crystal, to brown sugar,
spun and twinkling
gold-green pollen swirls,
miasmal, over the play
of light, life, death,
and rainwater
3 notes
路
View notes
Overt
the explosion of golden
petals around the nut
brown face of summer
sunflowers, the thrust
of waxy magnolia petals
opening like fingers, the
color of milky moonstone,
surrounded by jadeite
and emerald leaves, above
pink-tipped punk clover
headbanging to the warm,
pollen-heavy wind, slam
dancing in the kelly green
mosh pit, honeysuckle twirl
their ruby and jasper skirts,
swing to the blaring trumpets
of hibiscus,
shameless summer shaking
loose from blue winter,
her manner is brazen,
her flirting, overt
14 notes
路
View notes
Rover
the dust on your boots--
pennsylvania loam and
cement powder from new
york, jersey sand and
granite pebbles from
walking on the face of old
man appalachia, the oil
black earth of bayou country
my daddy was a rambler,
made me and my brother
and rambled on
10 notes
路
View notes
Laser
light measured, cut, and
spun like fibers into a ruby
line--fine and taut enough
to slice through tissue,
blood, and bone
radiant nimbus of unstained
hippocrates, garnet glowing
fingers of chiron, light-forged
blade of saint luke,
take this bitter cup, bloated
cancer, this poisoned well
that we must drink from,
dance us away from
the shears of atropos, to kiss
the rosy fingers of a new dawn
5 notes
路
View notes
Jolly
-- roger --
bone face over
femurs crossed,
white death on
a field of soot
-- jack --
chimneys belching
black over brick
and cobbles, a trail
of carbine, razor flash
-- st nick --
snow falls silent, a
blanket on rooftop
sleigh bells jingle,
fat man chuckles
6 notes
路
View notes
Lucid
deep dive into the liquid
black of swollen pupil
swim up to dew-kissed
emerald green, bursting
fire and gold lilies, spotted
and purring like leopards
shadowy mint fronds, home
of mechanical cockroaches,
cleaning brass antennae and
stretching glass wings in the
moist, velvet air of dream,
feet find cobblestone street,
weak sun shining through
morning mist, newspaper
crier shouting as a horse
wickers, matches for sale,
roses -- pink as baby fists --
in a basket over a pale arm
thumb over pocket watch,
clicks like the jungle insects,
spray of pale mint frond in
a brass pot beside the shop
door, bell rings welcome,
welcome, wake up, wake up
10 notes
路
View notes
Raise
antes, curtains,
chickens and
children
funds, flags,
puppies and
pumpkins
houses, hands,
heads and
hearts
salaries, hems,
blood and
pressure
questions, barns,
spirits and
the dead
5 notes
路
View notes
Facet
light locked away
in the cut of a stone,
sharp enough to
split shine, to shatter
rainbows, to fracture
shimmer and hoard
the pieces, star glow
coloring your finger
7 notes
路
View notes
Shank
split of skin, muscles
parted and torn, gush
of blood, spilling red
more precious than
garnets and rubies
over sharpened plastic,
former toothbrush --
guardian of facebone
health now turned against
the leg, femur notched
by the point driven home,
rage-filled fists now coated
in false-dawn glory, streaking
down arm, red and white
as a barber pole, roses on
snow, blood staining the
white apron of a butcher
5 notes
路
View notes
Blimp
floating silent as
the moon, silvery
in the morning light
of my elementary
years, passing like
a cloud over cane
fields and schoolyard,
smiling down, sweet
promise of a very
good year
10 notes
路
View notes
Steel
greenman, gentle hands
on plants, on trees,
leaning on your rake,
inhaling the chlorophyll
in the middle of this grey
city, you made yourself
steel, a hammer through
speakers, basso voice
-- a gift from dark gods --
ringing like deep bowled
churchbell, steel in every
note, in every breath,
throbbing in your pulse
but steel buckles and breaks,
titans fall in pieces, death
stills metal hearts, while
greenman still lives
laughing in the leaves
of his trees
14 notes
路
View notes
Whiny
slice through soft
silence, a blade
made of cut glass
membrane, shriek
buzzing sharp
through a tin whistle,
constant complaint
echoing through
your empty belly
handslap, bloodsplat
murder smear on my
shoulder -- your only
marker, end of your
whinge, your hunger,
your death, unmourned
8 notes
路
View notes
Louse
soft bite, unfelt
and the draw of
lifeblood into
bottomless
hunger,
an abyss of a
belly, the insect
gone before the
itch, before the
loss
is felt -- some
walk on two
legs, and they'll
do you just the
same
13 notes
路
View notes
Broth
(grandmother's best)
butter melting,
sizzling gold
and then chestnut
brown, add
diced onions,
minced garlic,
salt it and crack
pepper, simmer
add water when
the onions look
like the wings
of dragonflies
veined and
translucent
float two bay
leaves on top,
swirling in the
stovetop currents
boil a chicken cage
or an old beef bone,
if you have it --
carrot peels and
the leaves from
yesterday's celery,
onion scraps and
more garlic
(always more garlic)
simmer for two soap operas --
cool, strain, and set aside
for soup, gravy, and
stomach-sick grandchild
4 notes
路
View notes
Merge
cars line up
like teeth --
not zipper,
but molars
grinding
road grit
gridlock
clenches
like the jaws
or fists of
toddlers --
never taught
how to take
turns
10 notes
路
View notes
Breed
what breeds are the cats?
why, he's a black slinky,
made of equal parts onyx
midnight and domestic
doofus -- his friend is
a purebred orange
himbo, and this one
is mostly stripey flop,
but he's about a quarter
kitchen lumpcat, you
can tell by his fondness
for linoleum and cheese
this girl's a designer breed --
half louisiana loptail, and
half nightscream barn cat,
her brother outed with more
chonkus -- cats are unpredictable
like that -- the orange girl is a
creamsicle crabapple, and the
babies are mutts, no breed at all
but we love them just the same
10 notes
路
View notes