Hold the line

kiss us all nature
play us something wonderful
dewdrops on our porch

where did the time go?
spring rains, gentle lullabies
then Summer wakes up.


water is prayer
sunshine-communion
swim trunks are ready


chorus sings in green
abuzz and chirping outside
since we were barefoot


inside the bunker
of my vessel there is war
fighting dark again

tight five

You can take a poke
at the term hopeless romantic
  but it's an honest label

   you can tell a joke
and take it for granted
     that folks won't find it hateful

the world is full of dust and smoke
         and barbed wire trees we planted
 so smooth things makes us grateful

 Where does love go when it forgets?
      rustling layers
of dried leaves, random receipts
    in  old drawers

         does it move away
and stare out the window
      listening to lawnmowers
and wind chimes?

      I saw it looking around,
for where it parked
    biting its lower lip
       trying not to cry

better luck next time
   you fucking chump.

Tinder

The people of the North
        who can hold up the sky
 and walk like smoke,
       have many words for snow.

      You and I can tell
the tales, and I for one
          have a jumbled sack
  of names for loneliness

                you tell me yours
and I show you mine
        we trudge heavy
     not looking back
until we do
       and walk in circles


  "It's all right", you say
"It's not that bad,
        we're
walking this bitch
      together."

SpaceMom

She is a secret
this hidden sorceress
  that uses numbered incantations
to reach the stars
      like all of us
though with common magic imbued
        a soul as light as
          hydrogen
  a trillion sparks of mighty light
         within
and like the first hallelujah
    cannot be seen by ordinary men
         and I
 filled with rusty songs
           and the grimy smoke
 of experience
          want to warm
          those tiny hands

my spark

I have loved you since

the moment you opened your eyes 

on this world.

   

   and all the leaves in 

    the park 

changed color just for you

    the sun was 

bright and warm 

   flowers only lived
 in postcards
    until you came along

Is the weight of this
 too tremendous?

   I wait to see
who you
         will become
I wait for you to
        climb out
of the stones and
      darkness.

I wait for your eyes
  to open once
      again.

     

If you're buying....

If you're buying,
make me one with a little
 surprise at the end, a
strong finish, with a sour
       twist, and
something ordinary but not
        too dull,you know
             what I like.
         

        give it to me in a cup
 of monumental proportions,maybe
        that would not have seemed
out of place in the hand of
          a pirate king, no
wait, maybe a crystal glass all
        light and sparkles
 oh, i know just
         the thing...a
  garish plastic pineapple or
        a skull with sparklers
     that lights up the room and
      says
            "Hey, lookit me, it's
                    my birthday!"


   Life is just too short
          to drink Mickeys malt liquor
         from a red plastic cup
or pretend to like the taste
            of raw gin

     Don't give it to me straight
          either,
I want to dress it up and
           sashay

Truth Rises Under Mighty Presence....

There isn't enough brass
to make the horns
to sound the uproarious
 hoot
of your self satisfaction
as though
  the world could
 bear
another messiah
   who doesn't bleed
   a hero to the palace
         born
that still has the grasping
      eke to chintz on
the toilet paper and stiff
     the working stiffs
 that built your shit

   Maybe you can strut\
                 your stuff
in a bath robe far
         too short
while the rest of us just
        look away
and act like everything is
         normal,
 your sharp little nub
     making your tighty whities
 into the world's tiniest
       shrine

Maybe our gaping
    disbelief
our cringe
 at your latest little
          bon mot
a T shirt that basically
      says....
"FUCK LIKE A NIGGER,
       THINK LIKE A JEW"
will distract us from the fact
  that you are
   robbing us of even
       the sense to know
  that we have been robbed....