sirens

Sinuous web
Of caved thoughts
Sparked dust
Hiding in the black
Memory dripstones
Reaching skyward
Perceived freedom
By the blue sky
Or cloud movements
Still
Just thoughts
In dark shadows
Making the noise
Of sirens

money

This surrounding
People
Ten sticks thick
We're still
A blade of grass
A polished stone
Wind or waves
Tumble us
Like we're nothing
Money
Doesn't buy
Eaters of resentment
Or guilted regret
Crisscrossing of hands
And legs
Mingling of spit
And hair
That faith won't save you
Every step forward
Grass
Or pebbles
In the sole
Of your well worn shoe

anyway

I love you
She said
Under her breath
Heavy with the longing
Of water for dry land

She held her palms up
Waiting for the chains
To fade
To the light grasp
Of lover's fingers

She knew
He wouldn't come
But she dreamt
Of his skin, his warmth, his love
Anyway

you are where you live

Why do I love
The peeling paint
Of aged walls
Every square inch
Witnessing history
He reveals to me
Little at a time
Yellowed clippings
And butchered papers
The more I see
I can't look away
Wanting to run my fingers
Under colored furls
Down his neck
Along the graceful curls
Of exposed extremities
This house holds
Secret paths
Behind sealed closets
His coat of primer
Slips a little in the light

green flame

Flicked green flame
Slow reflection
Off the unlit bulb
My eyes trace
The dimly shadowed ceiling

Or the floor

My upside down everything
Remembering how to feel
Sharpened talons
Across this pasty white skin

Pulled hairs
Contrast of love lost
I am as I was born
In screaming solitude interrupted
Only by barking dogs

Tell me
Scalpel the red cord
Don't wait
Don't

Wait
Dress in rat skins
And slip to the unknown

That man is perfect
Though
Casting his own shadow
Against the millions of texts
Scribbled on pearled white walls
He listens to his own voice

Never changing his mind
I'm in the wrong footprints
Wishing they fit
At the top of my lungs
Counting sand grains with my back

The night puts me to sleep
Like every night
Dreams of unpast time
And suturing wounds
By the light of green flame

If only he understood
Every thing
Every

Thing

His voice reminds me

My own tells me
Stop being the mat

The bulb shimmers
To on

memories

Boathouse to sea
Of corrugated tin
Sheltered winter's hell
Black waters roll
Blocking out light
The white caps
Bowing with grace
Curl through the door
My throat
Filling my skin
In a locked rectangle
This maze of bars
Rusted and set
Braiding with arms
Like reeds
Reaching for air
My fingers hit steel
Leaving them stained
Oxygen red
Wheeled legs
Roll with the surge
Mermaid weave
Through glassless panes
Unmissed pains
Silent breathless scream
Through bluing lips
Ocean roars back
With salted baptism
The oncoming tide
Steals everything
But memories

seasons

Never to write of Love again
Feeding its will to multiple
A disease spread across a field of Spring
The nefarious shadows in cold endless night
The tips of the earth on sloth-like rotation
Love is my Winter
Warmed only by a distant moon

Or
The thought of a distant moon

I spread my warm skin out to hide
Beneath the fleshed surface ripples left
The Autumn leaves sponge all the color away
The other side of Summer
Me
I fuck love with glass shards and razor blades
Bleeding some tasteless antivenom
That smells of time
Ticking
Half past loneliness

start again

Sky blended
Camouflage blue
My invisible eyes
Wept the canvas dry
Pink lemonade
Of newborn skin
Stretched
And stretched again
Over man made armor
That green insect crawl
Across bruised knuckles
His split tongue
Licking self into atrophy
While each hair
Of the brush
A tree
Under glossed finish
To start again

tick of my heart

My jaw
Unhinged
The top of my head
Flips off
Wings
Of gap-toothed bats
And stained moths
Caress stale air
Escaping from the dark
Bowl of my upturned skull
Tiny scurried legs
Spiders and roaches
Defy gravity
As they up and over
Leaving a trail
Of sooty footprints
Over illusioned purity
Of dead marbled flesh
Sin of words curse structure
Peeling away all the jointed
Connections
The last of my skin
Thuds to the floor
Laying in a crumpled circle
Around the sticks
That hold me up-
Right, skin
Like a plastic grocery bag
Emptied of its treasures
Leaving only the sullied
Record of commuted transaction
What's left
Segmented tick parts
Expand and contract
In tight controls
Sticky legs curl
Against a browned translucent body
My quivered heart
Beating still
Inside
Where hearts should be
A cyclical devouring
Of food and life and love
This
Left of me

goodbyes

My mind empties
When loud music
Scrapes the surface
Of the graying veins
In my head

I never did goodbyes very well

The end of my work day
Goodbye, see you tomorrow
What's the point
I'll just see them again
Tomorrow

Slipping away from parties
Disappearing from
Nondescript banal conversations
Goodbye, thanks for having me
Slinked on the wall like a flower

The uncoupling rattle
Of important relationships
Fittering away the last of words
Burning inside meanings
Of everything that came before

The death of flesh
And carried in a box
Never saying goodbye
Because it was all so sudden
Like time scatter to dust

The noise of their heartbeats
And love and gratitude
Always buries the shit
Deep in my own red muscles
What's left of them

Let me rot
Like old stored fruit
Leave me alone
Away from all tendered connections
So I never have to say goodbye

Moon Blooming

The moon
Blooming
Giant oak
Bare branches
Flowering
Its nightly sway
Balanced
Between his wooded
Fingers against
Indigo her
White petaled
Dandelion blow
Into stars
The moon
Bloomed
Pulling oceans
Taut
To gaze at
Herself
In monthly passing

slip of the tongue

Rushing to her head
Side to side
Blood
From iced veins
He cut
Inside her
A slip of the tongue
Razored edges
Separating flesh truths
Her open wound
Cried
Frozen blue rivulets
Stream and stop
And stop
On molded skin
She made herself
Her very cold
The only stoppage
To this
Undying sameness

sharks

Sensing fear
The toothy predator
Of love entanglement
Peeled skin of the past
Where other fingers
Crushed your heart
Just a little
Then a little more
I'm not them

still

I want to know what you think
Seven tracks laid
All running at the same time
But I still want to know
Still
My words are relentless
Relentlessly sculpting truth
Finding the forms that long
For understanding
I want to know you
Under covers of safe
Cushioned breathable air
Breathing your air
Still
Locomotion chisel chipped
I find a frustration of nothing
A library full of secrets
Red clay and charcoal
And draw my own conclusions

selection of unrelated 5 lined poems 5.0

too bad
boys
don't like kisses
that's all
I think about

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

his breath
hot
condensed on her neck
the twist
in her leg

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

she drank
the sun
from glasses
made of cooled lava
love

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

fingers drag
crossing your skin
lips find lips
under the sunshine
of night

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

emotion compressed
the outside apathy
seals in wax
the future
I can't do

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

nomad
I've searched
a thousand years
under clouds
for you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

your words
rubbed together
starting fire
deep within
this chilled heart

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the evolution
of my hands
life and love lines
knuckles bent smooth
slipping beneath your sheets

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

chilled sea foam
summer warm in overcast tides
touching the sky
rippled motion
I send you my wake

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I
a sliver
between water and sky
holding the moon
before the sun

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

four paws
dug in sand
playing tug-o-war
with sea foam
waves

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

this love
paper thin
and led by a string
I love you
kite

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

waxing poetic love
my thoughts
railing against my own truth
I sacrifice myself
to my potential

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

my capitalist fingers
type in easily understood
syllables
all for sale
my quantifiable assumptions

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

forgotten
the dusted wayside
rolls me up
only to repeat this salt flat
tomorrow, too

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

an exploration
in solitude
silent vows
in silence
I'm cloistered

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

starfish curve
texture of time
the sea
created me
to give you wishes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

my eyes
move the length
of rosemary blades
tiny blue flowers
ignite

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I want to make bees
from scratch
layering the yellows
and browns
all the way to stinger

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

my last breath of air
said the lungfish
settling in mud
she released
and fell away

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

spinning eels
packed like wolves
hidden feast
surrounded by skin
fresh water

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and sometimes
sometimes I think
no, he's not into me
what am I hoping for
but then he speaks to me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and sometimes
sometimes I think
I'll fit in his hands
perfectly
before slipping through his fingers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and sometimes
sometimes all I want
I think
is for him to say, again
that he wants me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

maybe my heart will stop
beating silent
behind shatterproof walls
if only to stop
unrequited love

unforgetting

Unforgetting
The rotation of words
Hot wind
Brushing across the top
Of earth
And northern seas
Exchanged breath
And foreplay
Of skin never worn
Unforgetting
The inseparable links
And romantic discharge
It was perfect
Until it was not
(triangles never are)
Steamed into clouds
Every hidden thought,
Accepted madness
Were rolled waves
Over sand grains
Filtered to the center of earth
Of me
Then nothing
Unforgetting
Of untold shifts
The sobs and gasps
Of one person
For one person
Wet eyed reflection
The disappearance of words
Then nothing
Like wind
But never forgotten

selection of unrelated 5 lined poems 4.0

breathing
in this infertile
toxic wasteland
the sun rises
again

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I fall
with the speed
of dried pulp
only
to be let down

selection of unrelated 5 lined poems 3.0

I am here
unending form
like ballet
without the grace
and pink

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

never your mother
slack legged
in spread delight
the familial disease
every generation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

locked
in viral circulation
thin hollowed metal
extracts
all the red

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hours old
swift arson
her melted gray matter
dissolves
hopeless opinions

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the days
of nightgowns
and
bunny slippers
never existed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I crumple up
love
and journal pages
for you
to the wastebasket

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

refusal
love
that never was
lingers
just past the blade

selection of unrelated 5 lined poems 2.0

space of a card
the fifty second
spoke spun
her green bike
mesmerizes the intersection

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

she foraged the forest floor
beneath the rug
sand swept shores
coconut crabs
bask in blue

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

every first friday
to look at you
a perfect canvas
colors in your texture
my interactive art

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the tide pools
of her coastline
their ebb and flow
of salted waters
beneath his fingers

a selection of unreleted 5-lined poems

flex of breath
into her
she stripped him
of concrete
and stone

~~~~~~~~~~

her hair
fell across his shoulder
leaving echoes
of time
in his ear

~~~~~~~~~~

curdled milk
in stretched heat
rising steam
from cement bowls
leafed spoons never hold up

~~~~~~~~~~

dipping my toes
in the sun
endless ripples
circle out
meeting the green lights of sky

~~~~~~~~~~

her lips
pronounced
in shadows
of red
and guilt

~~~~~~~~~~

unfurled
fern leaves
left spring
with rain
the time in his hands

~~~~~~~~~~

these five lines
blueprint designed
from conception
to fruition
have nothing to do with you

~~~~~~~~~~

his photos
floor scattered
wooden sepia colors
blur
the edges

~~~~~~~~~~

we had drinks
off warm flesh
every lick of thirst
slips across
our wet skin

change

She shed her skin
Like tears
But it was
Never
That easy

ribbons

Striped stockings
Tied at the knee
Each ribbon
Undone
Like a gift at Christmas

bealtaine

Swallowing juniper's smoke
Devil divided by fire
We become pure
From greening pastures
To the roots of history

trying to wake up

Plucked out
From swampy peet
Taking deep breaths
Like a newborn
Smacked on the ass
So worldly and wise
I thought of me
So open and curious
I thought of me
But my foolish skin
Constricts muscles
In untidy messes
Feet stuck
In untimely murk
¤
My rounded tongue
Wrap old words
In unfamiliarity
Syllabic gifts
To the humiliation
Of not living up to...
Or just not living
So stupid and repulsive
I think of me
So brilliant and creative
I think of me
Still trying to decide
I burn in my own bubble
Never noticing
The tremendous white moths
Fanning any passion's flames

greased

Men
They think they can fly
Spilled blood
Of contrived histories
Fill polished silver
My last breath
Is air in bubbles
Thoughts on paper
Never realizing purity
In every soul raped
Under that same moon
That put us here
Tethered in escapeless rotation
The endless joke
On me
In clenched throats
And between reddened teeth
Life swallows
One at a time
Beads and stones
Pass hand to greased hand
Like gods

what she said

Her graveled voice left with a sigh
Musket ball speed and tailed fire
For every cloud passed, her voice grew
Dimmer, each pebble a young death
If it was shame, she felt undone
Buttons melted under heat lamps
Lava filled her expecting throat
The scratch of her trigger finger
Forced dry dusted eyes to naught shut
She spoke with an itch a foot wide
But still, her sigh paved the way out

a toast to now and then

Boot print skid
Through brown vomit
Third stall from the left
Porcelain white
The girl's bathroom
Stained with angst
And sadness
Her pasted face
And dirty fingers
Sink held
Like a jungle sloth
My latex bleached hands
Resurrect memories
Twenty years gone
Watching her stumble
Melt away
Into a puddle
Of whatever alcohol she could get

chocolate

Circumference of his smile lies
Holding a deeply held truth
Over tiny weaknesses
Courage was not his strong suit
Old patterns circular bounce
Leeching every darkened ounce
Archaic desires, foil wrapped
Tucked between marrow and bone
Existing in defiance

fabric making

Shades of green
Drift from her
In undersea waves
A handmade dress
Patchworked jealousy
From late night
Glassy eyes
Woven for him and
Frayed at her ankles
She collects
Threads of regret
With numb, calloused fingers
Rebraiding all the nonsense
Into wings

footing

When you said,

"I love the sound of your voice."

I float
For a moment
Dandelion fluff

Over the edge
Cliffs shrink
I find a current of air

The world beneath
Anything's possible
Blended colors of my sea

Rush of water
Under foot
I try to land. Squarely.

Past rivers rush
Breezed spring persistence
My footing on slipped bank

The conversation continues.

evolution

The lies
We tell
Ourselves
Making everything
Okay

Searching
The venom
Of like minds
Heat
Seeking missles

Sucking
Through
Straws, sweet
Conformity
In the margins

The slight
Bounce
Of the skull
On our own
Poison

Crush... crush
Evolution
Between
Calloused skin
And the growth of change

billet doux

Typing to the end of the page
Half inked letters
Ribboned metal to paper
Swinging little trebuchets
¤
I love you
She says in her dreams
Carriage return
Playing lettered keys like d'ivoire
¤
Transparent pulp
Felt deep with eyes closed
Shaped with hard black lines
Aide-mémoire for shiny new love
¤
The space bar lay still
Horizontal hesitation
Paper finger holding each word
Un point c’est tout

wind

Slipping into night
Undressed... exposed
To dark shadows
¤
Love worn corners
Beneath wet fingertips
Electric touch
¤
Her spine arced to him
He bends with her
Becoming wind
¤
In one breath
Melting every moment
Before him
¤
Silk of her wings
Wrapped his every move
Like freshly dried sheets
Warm against his skin

homeless

I know how people become homeless
Severed lines once well grounded
Friends, family disintegrate in a wash of resentment
Slipped footholds to an abyss of unknown
Where needs slow into wants
I thought I had it
I thought I'd make it
Each penny to someone else for something gone
I know
How people become homeless
Collapsed foundation, the roof falls in
Cutting every piece away in ordered priorities
Letting love go ...it's too expensive
No time to the bottom of the penny jar
Closer to alone finds a new level
Of just what we'll take
I know how people become homeless
I'd rather waste away than have you see
What's become of me
All that's left is dirt
And words

cliche of flowers

Glowed light within
Deep inside
Plastered opaque white
Bright tiny red
Supernova expanse
¤
Pinpoint shine
Broken through steel
Skeleton under stretched skin
This bloom
Beating in atoms
¤
Pushed by fire
Self-ignited arson and iron
You breathe in
My every thought
Closer than feeling
¤
Shaping something
From nothing
My emptied space
Filling, filled, wanting
You
¤
The cliche of flowers
My bloomed affection
Like brightening flames
From candles to wildfire
From like to Love

singularity

I think
Post human
Source code
Intelligence
Super
Intelligence
Transcendence
Unlimited
Smoke and flamed
Event horizon
Sucked and
Created
Spun black
Tech chip
In dust
Death
My new drug
A zombie
Delicacy

we met

I remember
when I could
string words
like glass beads
for your neck

I remember
when my words
meant so much more
than scratches
on burnt skin

I remember
when I turned heads
with a thought
of blue
words

I remember
when your skin
was made of words
charcoal written
in gray lust

I remember
when I loved you
with words
before
our skin met

flowers

Tranced
Spun circles
Square of salt
Balanced
At the tip of her tongue
Circus trick
Distracted
Oozing truth
Underskin injected
Fought
And fight alike
Winter to winter
Licked
Sweet survival
Of flowers
Tranced

wind

Single eyelash
On my finger tip
Blowing it away
To infinity
With a wish
¤
Lost in weeds
And dirt
My wish
History mixed
In rubbish unmattered
¤
His zephyr
Picks me up
Drifted on southern drafts
Tiny surface scratched
Love
¤
Eyes wide open
Unfringed
Felt wind
To be taken
In my own infinity

our box

Lying in the grass
Backyard tall
The very dirt
I thought
I'd be buried
¤
In pieces
We spell
*L*O*V*E*
In outlines
Of stars
¤
Circle of moon
Holds our single silhouette
Dressed in silver light
We live, breathe
In our box

dried leaves

Rocked wood
Worn through polish
To bare
His baby sleep
Of old men
¤
Window sat
Hunched over bones
Swallowing another shot
Whisky stained night
Slurs into dawn
¤
Whiling away
The life he grew into
Freight train passenger
Thundered boxcar
Building fires
¤
He wakes
Another day
On rails of the long haul
Ever closer
To familiar sameness
¤
The collected yellow
Of dried leaves
His brittle bones
Still
In motion of spun earth

still here

I left my soul in a poem
Washed clean in the showers of spring
The almost-year that's passed
And I'm still here
I left my heart in a thousand poems
Butchered, spackled and torn
A centuries-old connection
And I'm still here
I leave my love in single words
Deleted by winter's cold
As numbers flick by, one at a time
And I'm still here

held

New moon dark
Held in night's stillness
Feeling your heart beat
Against my back
Your breath in my ear
Soft words like stars
Burning up as they fall
The curve of the earth
Rolls with my hips
To foothills and mountain tops
Arm over my waist
Embracing the unknown
Clouds of dreams
Wash us away
Until the sun rises
Over our curled up
Labyrinth
We sleep
Like quiet waves
After a solar storm

your night

I love your night
And where it came from
The soft insanities
Living in the dark
Shadows and silhouettes
That follow you
Roam my fantasies
I love your history
Of ghosts across plains
In musty old castles
Lurking on covered bridges
I love your violence
Inside
Spinning like a worn eddy
In a river of thought
Never a fist
But when you sleep
You wrestle your demons
Raging for justice
I love your struggle
For freedom
A sense of independence
Rebirth
I want to give it to you
All of it
But the journey
Is your own