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
Against the cold of this world.
Holding my hands out
To the warmth of the fire
That we [...]

Nesting

One time I found
That I loved the warmth
Excavated by nesting:
Burrowing so far
Into a pile of pillows,
A weight of blankets,
The I left the world behind.
These were the laps
Of my imaginary mothers;
They were the arms
Of my dream-lovers.
Safe and tight
Inside a womb of covers,
Tented fabric and
Down-stuffed sandbags
Kept me secluded
From the shellshock of
Existing.

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
Like a swarm of fluid ants,
Chewing up the asphault,
Around, under, and through.
They occupied [...]

And How

And how
does the world bludgeon me daily.
Sanctuary with my door locked
and my heater blaring.
The smell of burnt dust clings
to my jackets on the coat rack.
I hear my exteriority shatter
with the tumble of the deadbolt.
Ignoring the intrusion of phone bill, electric bill,
auto insurance bill, CD club bill –
Williams I’d rather not be acquainted with.
The ceiling fan [...]

For Galstephus the Mage

You dream like a king
on a throne;
you are not like the serfs
and servants of this existence.
This world doesn’t want kings and heroes;
rather, normalcy is enshrined
and page homage to with certificates of merit.
You are a nobleman
and your heritage is not acknowledged -
there is no room for the likes of you
among the jaded and the complacent;
these powers [...]

I Can’t Breathe

why can’t I
just be another guy?
but I’m a person
with a snake-sharp tongue
and I’m a ripped flannel…
I shoot my mouth like a shotgun.
riddles and rhyming and rhythm,
not taken seriously enough to stay honest
just another number in the GTE phone list.
I lie and I lie and I lie
to convince you all
that the poet is just another human [...]

A Letter

Dear Mom,
I was so stoned the other night
that I was at awe with the world
like when I was a child
light and airy, care-free
and drug-free.
It’s just the weight of responsibility
that turns me to substance,
matter rather than mind -
a little more of the Kind
can sometimes give me back my pleasures:
the realities of the memories
I’ve dried and [...]

The Decay of a Cartoon

The poet sojourns
to the real world,
concerned with education and finances,
too busy with real matters
to watch his own walk
like a bluejay on a telephone line
assuming it is his,
too bust to enjoy
the glances at his jester clashed clothing
and his odd squatting posture,
recounting endless stories
of dubious origin.
The decay of a cartoon
into another weary act of flesh and blood
is [...]

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 walk in the dark
took me silent and alone
wandering eccentric between [...]

A Troll

he sat under a narrow bridge
and skulked, the fairy-tale Troll.
I was the one who sat under the bridge
and chose not to demand a toll.
I could have asked for the world on a plate
or rich trinkets, various and sundry.
but he was a reclusive faint-hearted Troll
who wished Man good will and went hungry.