As the sun comes up day after day,
I just wonder when this act would halt,
wishing for the darkness to stay forever,
to wake up, only if I can see you near.

Pretending through the day is bad enough,
then comes the moon, to whom I talk,
pouring out my sorrows and breaking down,
making the nights worse, along with nightmares.

I hardly understand the ticking of the clock,
trying hard to go through each day,
wishing today would finally be my time,
to go into a peaceful sleep and not be back.

I feel light,
as if right before death
or maybe I’m already dead and writing.
Who can make sense of life?
I’ll just go out onto the balcony,
smoke a cigarette,
keep up the routine,
and act as if I’m alive.

You buried me
Half the world away
And a lifetime ago

Yet you find me
In your every daydream
In every foreign touch
In every what if...

Almost...
But never quite

I dreamed that I had
a boat on a leash,
which was strange
because moments before,
I had it in the ocean,
and I was fishing off
the starboard side.
My nephew was with me
and he got us lost.

We dragged that boat all
over Ventura.
We were looking for
the marina.
The longer that the boat
was on the leash,
the smaller it got.
Pretty soon it was
just a toy, a poisoned
dog that we
threw in the trash.

Blue seas shrink away,

Salt-pans drink the sky’s wide hue,

White crystals are born,

Harvested with care and toil,

To season our humble meals.