20-20

I. There was a woman Who I loved with all my heart. It’s the only way I know how to love. The problem I have With falling in love Is that I just keep falling And falling on through. It’s a perpetual autumn; Storming leaves of memories, Possibilities, Skeletal trees. And turning my collar up [...]

Seagulls

Sometimes the surf sings Be a seagull and fly! Along the crests of the waves That lap at the land. It is late at night And the mist of the sea Slips on to the streets, An extended arm of tide. My bicycle spokes churn Through the streetlamps’ gaze Until the darkness under the pier [...]

George

Sometimes I wish I could Feel all four walls in the dark From where I sit on this Thinly carpeted floor – Again, like a closet, A most comfortable space For one sad and lonely Anthropomorphic ape. One or two trips to the sunlight Have sunburned him into The hypocrisy he despised: Loss of childhood [...]

Prayer for a Glib Tongue

The muse hasn’t abandoned me yet. Hoping my tongue is as glib As it can be loose, I fret In the dark space of early morning Writing poetry to assuage my heart; Weighing heavy, almost mourning That I am done for As the low self-esteem comes creeping in To squat on my stomach And whisper [...]

The Blessed Heart Sacred Moon Wanderlust Spelunking Club

I am the sole member of the The Blessed Heart Sacred Moon Wanderlust Spelunking Club and I lead myself through the Scottish bogs under a sky liberally sprinkled with the Milky Way galaxy. Wet shoes and grey spirits, feather boa fog tendrils bathing my sock-tops, no compass points me to my Holy Grail. Two kittens [...]

Once Again

just so that I could keep spouting poetry to myself in the dark of hidden poetry journals. there came a chisel unto the flesh of my heart today. examine the date and remember what it is during these times: the abject punishment of yourself for unpreventable, unlooked for damages and a sick sense of trust [...]

Untitled Poem #173

sometimes I finger the scars on my heart in the dark, all alone, rough ribbons of hardened tissue; they are braille lines of poetry; railroad tracks to remind me of my innermost fears. They feel almost skeletal, and read like the scriptures of God, and sting like the scorpions of God.

Wading Through the Cattails

I went to find my childhood buried in the morass of my memory; discarded in a moment of adolescence trying to be an adult before I knew what that was about. So me and a shovel and a dream go wading through the cattails and the frogs, looking under lilypads and scouring the undersides of [...]

Untitled Poem #170

lost in the dark, sometimes I sit down wherever I am and wait for the morning to come, stealing through the thick air and lightening the darkness, like highlights in your hair.

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 [...]

Las Vegas

one all these slot machines are screaming at me, hurling forth these awful noises like upright pinball machines amplified and winking with infernally fueled lights, glowering metal goblins hunkered in military rows. zombies run them, magnetized to the pull-bars. coin after coin after coin fed like morsels to squat and greedy quadripalegics to be digested [...]

Nyarlathotep 1925

thy Bloody Tongue caresses the forehead of the Chosen for Hotep, Dark Lord. the Crawling Chaos erupts from blood for us: those willing to see his vistas, landscapes draped in flesh, drenched in blood, shattered like mirrors so close like dreams one bright tentacle to worship one hypnotism one belief of truth; as you wish [...]

Untitled Poem #155

I now I know I love you when I heard you sad because of me; I realize things too late and make due with writing poetry to read or think on when I cannot call or hold you with me; my thoughts may wander briefly but I will always love you truly. II when did [...]

The Skeletal Tree

there is a tree at home in the Wooded Area, a community so old that it has no sidewalks, no curbs, and many trees. there is one tree on the corner of Dupont and Silvergate Streets that is hollow underneath its splayed boughs. it is an upside down cup or a limp starfish but sometimes [...]

A Short, Balding Dwarvish Bard

It was a time of Dragon’s fire; Twas then the souls of Kings were born From darkness, fear of Demon’s ire There rose a hope for those forlorn. The simple men whose lives were led With doors barred shut and fires high: Those women who did fear to tread After the dark had seized the [...]

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 [...]

Eagle Feathers

from my hair flutter many eagle feathers, tied to the dark ends of curls, framing my face in the chill wind which flies over flat expanses: the seas and the prairies. it is this wind which cloaks my feathered brothers and sisters while they hunt with their keen eyes. in these skies, dusted with clouds, [...]

Cat Hide

I am the prickle which makes your mother start and cover your eyes as if you, being young don’t know the fear of the closet. I am the voice that whispers through the crack; all that’s left when the door is shut tight, caressing you with words from a green foot-long tongue, slithering out from [...]

Depeche Mode Imitation

I saw a star in the sky, Watching, a flickering eye. I felt your breath in the storm. I shiver and try to keep warm. I touched the moon in the flood Of words like the coursing of blood. In the rose warmth of your gaze, I could have watched you for days. An eagle [...]

Imitations of Sakanoe

I do not scowl to yourself like a volcano erupting orange saliva. people will know you are angry. II do not smile to yourself like a child who has thought of something naughty. people will catch you. III do not smile to yourself because you are pleased with all your talents. it is not allowed. [...]

Imitations of Busin

I a cricket gets eaten by my black scorpion. II a cricket wonders what Robert Frost is doing. III a cricket is waiting for a blackbird. IV a cricket digests my poetry thoughtfully. V a cricket chirps loudly somewhere in my dark room.

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.

Antelope

I I beat a trash can like a drum in the alley behind your house at night when the stray cats gather on the fence around my feet. we are all going to fly to the dark side of the moon. II I see the big sack of your skin, hung up as if in [...]

Kraken

I lurk. a leviathan under the surface, battling with dreams and limitations, darkly, silently. I lurk, therefore, I am Kraken. massive, fear-inspiring. awesome, horrifying. I lay at the bottom watching my bubbles swim towards the grey surface around the unfortunate.

Butt’s Up

oh yeah. I wasn’t even allowed to compete in the darkie circle where you were allowed hope. my identity was my glasses and the computer that was my entertainer. all the people I called friends would have sacrificed each other in a moment for a turquoise ray of hope at possibly being cool. I wish [...]