it's been so long
i know the way now,
folded pavement
seamless merging.
hopeful headlights
piercing windows,
i cross the border
cannonballing.

then one wrong left,
and hell again.

all this gravity
inside me,
dragging like bricks,
melting like suns,
where where
what's under there?

Found a fence,
climbed a fence,
wildflowers
ever since.

*

It should be
right around here.
Yep,
see there,
through those trees,
with the gothic points,
that's it,
the one
that I told you about...

A friend recalled
some minor news,
that last decade's
daring
moved back into town.

I remembered her height
for most of an hour,
and now,
my skin's a compass.

No matter where I turn,
there's a
buzzing buzzing buzzing,
somewhere straight East.

Operas
mount racehorses.
Idiom rubs elbows
with Billboard charts.
World capitols bow
to puns
and seabirds,
and long-dead winners
waltz,
cheek to cheek,
with subject-verb
agreement.

The things we love most
are the least important,
but how nice to find
them meeting
each other.

In the desert of south Utah,
lies a staircase of gods.

Follow the southwestern wind
there to the middle,
until you find
the tomb of The Gore King.

The smallest version
of a frightful legend,
five-inch fangs
in sutured jaws,
a skull like a comet,
dragging death forward
to
any
next
new
blood.

How quaint,
how horrible and honest,
to demand your meals,
to roar your lust.

You should have stood straight,
practiced grins
and built museums,
friendly temples
of natural history,
yesterday's dangers
made safe
in cartooning winks.

Now,
your reign of terror
diverts
our screeching young.

Last night,
I boiled
and baked,
fried at least twice,
a meal
of multiple courses,
balanced textures,
and a symphony of spices.

Deliciously earned,
in hours, in dishes,
it tasted
as good
as food
can taste.

.

This morning
I overslept,
groaned upright
into water and coffee.

This morning,
this banana,
is heaven on earth.