Crestfallen, cantering
down stumble avenue,
my lucky fountain was
outpouring youth.
About-face! I crafted
a curious inquiry,
endeavoring slyly
the avoidance of truth.
And then I walked on by.
Was it my worthless wince
that made you
hardly deign to reply?

My stomach oft knotted,
ink blotted, but you are
faultless and guiltless of
waxing and waning my
hopeless forlorn hope, my
bellowing attrition,
glazed over in glory,
trampled delicately
with innocent fashion.
Swordsmen leaping over
your bright scarlet ramparts;
wordsmen, in a white gift
resonating outward;
they hinted that my dream,
laced up in slack linen,
was daring enough for
your showered attentions.
...But only for a while.

In Scandinavia's oceanbound counterpart,
a sickly vested boy grafted his life into yours;
now empathetic reminiscence recalls
dry desert days 'neath a cloudless sphere,
as war ripped apart your homeland.
Among all the hubbub of upheaval unfamiliar,
tell me, you who are more worldly,
if I mean anything to you?

i like very much the sound of
my bones beneath your bones—
although comparatively softer
than mine—still made from
protons and neutrons and electrons,
all deservingly placed
in their element.
i like bonding with you,
and bridging the black crevasse;
hold me warm,
so i'll forget how
water feels in solid form.

bubbling,
babbling,
brookling,
i'm charting a course
for your sundries.
take it upon me --
no --
take it upon yourself
to watch me glide,
and fall,
and smack into a tree-
Ow! (watch out, George!)
that jungle stung,
but a tree's like
a ladder rung
as a tambourine
is just a drum.
now by my preaching
don't get irate;
we're not supposed
to gyrate.

i want, said
a man
satisfaction got he immediate
day got he quick
without going through
dawn, got the lift up
skyward, never had
to work for a piece
so all men know
he's standing pat.

please,
another man said
was halted
found himself crumpled
broken-ribbed on her
fleshy bottomglass
stretched out
squished insectly
half of him went
with her, she reveled
in his missing half
slow pining gusts
they shook
and trembled
they whimpered beneath
a disgrace that was enough
to call himself counseled
but not enough
to call himself
a man.

take me
        to fountains,
filled with
        your health,
        and I'll
take me
        a sip
        and be
filled with
        your wealth!

rock was never me
and neither was
it has always been

it appears,
broadly blending consciousness
and the pitter-patter
of rhythmic rain,
and I don't feel it, but
eight hours later I pass
from its watchful gaze.