Pine Tree

I climbed up as far as my courage And strength would take me One day in the life of a monkey-boy; Those branches were spaced With a long-armed youth in mind – A kind encouragement Beckoning boys to the heavens, That grandfather pine tree still stood As of the date of this writing, And it [...]

The Pier

The pier is flung out past the surf Into the deep water Like a sleeper’s unconscious arm Idly hanging over the edge of the bed. Sunlight scuba dives for the flickers Of schools of little fish And warms the top of the waters – Where the seaweed loosely hangs Like bead curtains or piles of [...]

Rioting Raindrops

The rain came down Like cartoon anvils, Spending itself on the cement In an assault on the town. The parachute-less troops Gathered in the low-lying spots And took over the streets In order to regroup. Rioting raindrops, Seething and churning, Swallowing curbs and sidewalks And the floors of a few shops. En masse, they moved [...]

Untitled Poem #200

I love you even though We fight and fuss And make a mess Of each other. You forgive. I like that. The clouds were herded Past the pier, Nearer the horizon Than the beach; The sun water colored As I watched: The Van Gogh of Our galaxy.

For Your Majesty

I I can imagine a perfect spot to have a picnic with you today; the sky is a wee bit grey at the edges – I caught as many clouds as I could with my butterfly net (I came in wet early this morning from the rain-dew on the unmown grass stems). II I’ve found [...]

Two Ten Penny Nails

I know that my heart rests while I slog Through glaciered halls that know of no such frogs. I tire and watch my halo and my wings; They start to melt away like borrowed things. The nails sunk through my heart like lovers’ frowns Reach steely through the clouds into the ground Below me where [...]

Musings in the Night Aire

perching like a poet – I found a table and a bench tucked away on a second story walkway of the Arts building just for me. a yellow magnesium light shines down on this paper turning letters into dancing figures that say something important to me so I can pretend I am a poet. a [...]

Dowsing

One man walked through a cracked, dry land dowsing for the cairn of a woman. his spirits circled him like many wrestlers, fanning the wind into slight eddies, stirring the dust raised by each cautious footstep. one man seen alone with a forked stick walking away from a dirt-streaked car, a door hanging open like [...]

The Beauty of Destruction

The winds of last night have blown the limbs from trees, torn the leaves from branches, and scattered them on the sidewalks like dull confetti and still streamers. The beauty is in the destruction; the tree trimming of clouds breath, shaking every blade of grass, stripping the dew away like pearls silently falling from a [...]

Rain Song

I I pray for rain nowadays when I see Those dark clouds splayed above me, threatening. I can’t always tell what rain will fall Or what tears you’re crying to comfort me. When the sunset’s burning and crowded for space In the sky with your pain so apparent, Your heart is tearing apart with these [...]

He Stood Like a Tree

he stood like a tree on the edge of a cliff before the sea and raised his arms as if wearing a cloak, as if they were wings. his voice flew to the clouds in the sky calling them to fly for him. the breathing of the wind hummed in his ears, the earth fell [...]

The Most Beautiful Man in Town

I am the most beautiful man on this road, my bottle of red wine wetting my lips through the lizard-trod dust. My spit places octopi in the tiny gravel splayed like fingers or clouds. Sometimes I weave back and forth between the ruts in the road, carrying my bottle of red wine before me like [...]

Little Things

I think I shall take refuge in my little dreams of apes and frogs little dreams of big-eyed fish, shedding tears never seen underwater. little dreams of stands of trees who whisper together to protect me. little dreams of pools of color that geyser happily when I come to visit. little dreams of stars that [...]

Untitled Poem #-22

bad girl stole some bones and feathers to control the weather; to send the clouds and the wind to smell out what her boyfriend was doing.

Untitled Poem #-19

once upon a time I was a youth, no corpse dream thing, tiny and small, but I was as big as the world, bright and unbuttoned like metal. so anyways, I bend and I breathe. the sieve of my skin leaks the sand of my cloud life; strange clouds, odd clouds for people far away [...]

Falling Violin-Strings

the rain-sheets of water are hung out like grey laundry from the clouds. she dances through them like they’re stage curtains, smiling to the waltz, the music, of the hidden sunshine and thus for the joy of the rain.

Untitled Poem #-17

light is spilling through the clouds, and the whippoorwill wind is getting louder; a storm is coming. I can see the line of rainfall blurring the trees across the way. the dark is rising, and my shoes are untied.

The Sun at the Edge of the World

in the photograph, taped at the corners, we were caught falling into the river with smiles and half-closed eyes; flowers were falling on the glossy surface in the middle of the white album page, shifting the reflection of the sun. outside the open oak-framed window, shining over the tall broad-leafed trees, and the clouds spiraling [...]

Without Me

watching the clouds beautiful playing graceful in the sky’s meadows. I lift my arms, ask for storms to pour their fruit on me with no words, fervent kisses winked like hope thrown as confetti stolen by a monkey wind to go where the lost helium balloons go.

C-R-Y

Standing on an island C-R-Y For the melting purple clouds in the sky Let them go So down burns the sun in all its glory Palm trees weeping from the weight of their coconuts The footprints I leave In the sand of the beach Remind me that I’ve been here before Purse your lips and [...]

Alone

I’m standing alone, hunched between the rocks As the pounding surf breaks all around Solitary, singly, lastly, only Buffeted yet still very unfound Surrounded by water, seething ocean. The topmost point on this isle. Crashing, flaring, thundering, churning. A straggler misplaced from single file But through the gloom and pouring torrents A beam of light [...]

Relations

I can relate To many things Sometimes I’ve sailed On a seagull’s wings; Drifting, floating Over the sea, Skirting the clouds So effortlessly. I’ve once been hung Up on the wall As a dartboard Down the hall. Once I was a sticker On the back of a car And dust and gravel My surface did [...]

Sub-Conscious or Look Into My Brain

Dredged up from the foul slimy pits of the unconscious Come the compost and seedlings of these poems. The sunless quagmires of my nether regions Unseen, unheard of, unpure, unwanted, unknown. Grey sludge wends its way through towering pillars Stalagmites, remains of what could have been. Unwholesome creatures populating the pseudo-real Slither between murky bog [...]

Tempest

Cool wind whistles through the eves Caressing, searching, rustling leaves Over the horizon the storm does rise A tempest which is reflected in your eyes. A seething mass of whirling cloud Approaching and reinforcing doubt Resounding claps of thunder peal With what forces do we deal? Frightening fury, boiling mist Natural power clenched in a [...]

The Great Eraser Battle of 1987

Nat grasps his eraser. Peter tests its weight. Like the two medaeval knights They try to emulate. Dust a little more chalk on, Prepare the denim jerkin. The serious pastime of theirs Is dueling instead of working. All prepared, their time has come Together, back to back. Facing each a formidable foe Not courage do [...]