To whom it may concern

his brains fall out

every time he opens

his mouth

as though someone

is carving a pumpkin

orange and slimy

and whatever

volleys around

in his cavernous skull

slides down his tongue

and out onto

the floor

his assisting buffoons

are eager to hurl

the fecal piles

that accumulate at his feet

as they all seem to want

to make this

a very shitty place

Whisper

faintly danced the sound in air

a slight vibration to break

the silent room

a mere draft, or was it

more than merely a

shrugged off answer

of that unknown

but came again the brush

of sound through the air

a stronger breath 

voiced louder now to

know the unknown

that much clearer

in its mystery

as it trickled past

the right ear and down

the shoulder

a turn to find

the wall of books in

all their calming binds

yet the whispering

words arose from

these tomes

to raise a rise and

pull a lure hither there

that faintly danced in the air

at first and then a mighty wind

the rush of words

the creaking bind

the reach into unholy divine

and through the pages

drawn into, then silence fell

the book as well

in the vacant room

Reservoir

silvery faces gaze

into the sun

and reflect the nightly eyes

that watched the

earthly life of long ago

a life now lurking

in watery depths

only the mud speaks

of those days

in the dry wind

and grass

the neighing of horses

that bellowed over miles

the smell of exposed wet earth

in the Spring

waiting for seed

now rests in murky cold

and layers of rot and silt

what bleeds into

the local water supply

from these silvery faces

the bitterness of the past

quenches the present thirst

Waiting room

laughing at the TV

when its staring back at you

looking for the next thing

that's suddenly so new

tinkering with words

on a blank white sheet

running off to somewhere

in your airplane feet

they're all just distractions

in this waiting room

no need to get so tangled

you won't escape the loom

we're all just getting weaved

with a multi-colored thread

until the timer's ticking's done

and you're leaving here instead

quenching your thirst

in endless cobalt seas

dreaming your heart dry

while begging on your knees

washing all your laundry

the shirts, towels and covers

getting down and dirty

with lover after lovers

they're all just distractions

in this waiting room

no need to bob from the weft

you won't won't escape the loom

we're all just getting weaved

with a fucked up thread

until the hour glass is shattered

and the earth is now your bed

watching the clock

it's waving back at you

with middle fingers raised

in this waiting room

Dressings

she wrapped herself

in complaints

and walked down
cracked pavements

in hope she

would stumble

he cloaked himself

with stuff

yet wandered out

in flea markets

to bring manifested

pennies back

to his garbage barge

they showered themselves

with compliments

but then asked

why oh why us

when there's

no more room

for any one else

to pay them praise

he dressed himself

in sarcasm

and ran off

into the wild

to find the genuine

among the fake

she draped herself

with fears

and sat alone

in the dark

Traffic

a secret conversation

out in public

as I waited for the light

a signal to go but

waited there

watching a man

motioning in the air

on his scooter

he carried on with

the vehicle to his right

but I didn't know

the language of his hands

and the green signaled

me through and turned

to pass another man

on his bike on the shoulder

with a guitar on his back

and he motioned too

repeatedly he did

bringing his arms high

to heaven

or somewhere else overhead

as he cycled down

the shoulder of the interstate

I turned to myself

and asked what the hell

was that

and pinched myself

to make sure I wasn't still

in the dream from last night

where I cut down

a towering century old fir

with a tiny saw

at my mom's house

Spinner

is there any relevance

to 24 hours in the chasms of space

how wrapped up are we

in this bubble of blue days

for everything to spin attuned

to the hum of the blazing core

what will happen to us

if we let go of the seasons

what will become of our senses

when we lose sight of the blue

when we lose our turn

Garden jam

some dill, oregano

some dill, oregano

beets, beets, beets, beets, beets

potato

I said potato

leeks, leeks, leeks, leeks, leeks

tomato

heirloom tomato

watermelon on the vine in the sun

bumblebee buzzing, having fun

viceroy floating in the breeze

damn you squirrel swinging in the trees

potato

I said potato

seeds, seeds, seeds, seeds, seeds

tomato

that green tomato

basil, basil, basil, basil, basil

grab my hoe

I can't find my hoe

dog is digging in the flower bed

birds are chirping somewhere overhead

I should have planted roses over there

what's that odor in the air

potato

I said potato

weeds, weeds, weeds, weeds, weeeeeeeeeds

Rivering

in the desert 

they were rivers of belief

flowing through tamarisk

and under catalpa blooms

their fingers snaked through

the arid sand

licking it with their

aqueous tongues

those ancient serpents

who led us out of paradise

to wander deserts 

to wonder and question

the mirage in front of our eyes

the flames of creation

raising images from the ground

pulling clouds from the earth

to give us sips

to quench our thirst

a thirst that pulls us from the earth

and floats us down 

those rivers

June-closet

do sprouting seeds

lift their leaves

through the spring mud

as a gesture

of giving the finger

to the cruel winter

for stealing their time

and making them

wait in frozen sod

and shell and wet

for a chance

a slight chance

to poke ahead
and peek about

and shout aloud

with root and stem

and bud and bloom

"MAKE ROOM BITCHES,

I'M COMING OUT!"

Eat yet?

we are a feast

not yet but soon

in the ticking of

a vulture claw

the clock soars high

in a desolate sea

the sun bleached sky

a ravenous fiend

no shady tree

for you or me

the buzzard's nose

knows not yet

but soon we're food

Clouding

white needle eyes

sew up the sky

quilting the clouds

that snag on trees

their remnant fluff

flies like cotton stuff

in June afternoons

among poppy blooms

but better yet

is their raining wet

after they grow too

dark and cold

for white needle eyes

to mend them

Ladder

I gave you a ladder

to climb deep inside me

I was the dark depths

of a cavernous soul

carved of dripping time

the stone of my heart

I wasn't a wall

for you to topple

I wasn't a sea

for you to part

you ascended into me

with your light

with your warmth

you swept away

the stale cold of my stone

and we melted

in a pool of fire

Known

I know longer

the life than it should be

the conversation than it should speak

the thought than it should think

I no longer know

the life driving down the road

who speaks from the passenger seat

I no longer know

the thoughts I long to think

Wet dreams

the waters I sleep in
and dreams I float in
and illusions I choke on
they grasp my throat
they curl around my shoulders
holding me tight
in their arms
the lovers they could have been
the lovers they long for
but it isn't I
the hopelessness in my heart
they listen for
I can't afford
though I'll give them their night
I am to them
what they are for me
one toe dipping into the pool
a slight taste
of something else
whether it's here or there
where is where again
a small test
of which side of the surface
I'm on
in these dreams
these waters

'Tis

it was never he
nor father, nor son
nor lord or master
it was never she
nor mother, nor crone
nor maiden shone
it was never beast
nor half beast, nor metal
nor stone or alien
to any of what it is
it is as familiar as any
symbol on any temple,
church, mosque, or altar
and as escaping as any
notion dismissing it
it is more eternal than
the abysmal night sky
and the turning seasons
and flowing tides
it is the multitude
the gathering throngs
and the nothingness
found in silent songs
it is the you in me
and the I with you
it is the mystery
the truth and forever unknown
it is the heartbeat
of a seed never sown
it is the light and the
shadow at the end of the hall
it is what is left
when there is nothing at all