Sometimes I come to
while the moon is still up
i have been dreaming
way into the night
of a sad woman
in the corner of my room
sitting at a loom
weeping, and weaving
her own shadow
and my silence feels
like an intruder
to her sorrow
an unnatural light
to the darkness
she will face
for all the rest
of her tomorrows
if I could only dream
a way into her
dark nights.

If my cat were a stripper she'd be white
& pristine; soft & hairy little miss who
jumped on my lap on a hot night in July;
claws in my thigh, unforgettable grin;
she knew I was bleeding & wriggled
her tail from beneath digging
in the sharp nails; all the while looking
right at me w/ sparkling sapphire eyes
& just like that she leapt away & disappeared
under the couch where I went in search
of her because I was hooked & wanted
to play; I got the fresh catnip & feather
on a plastic stick w/ tiny tinkling bell;
I was on my knees I swear pressing my ear
to hear her purr; she seemed frightened
when only moments before she had been so bold;
was she afraid I would punish her like the guy
she lived w/ before; god forbid;
she's an angel to me I will love
for all time; she knows I am her sugar-daddy
until she decides to go next door
where a tom lives eating Sheba but no;
if my cat were a stripper she would be loyal
like a ****** turned housewife; grateful
for the warm bed & frequent treats & on
occasion take a place in my lap,
translucent glint in those feline eyes
so unlike every other eye & recall
that Saturday night when we didn't know
each other except at first sight

If you were just a wish away
I'd call on every star
to bring you back from where you rest
to heal this broken heart.

If time were but a circumstance
It's whim not our demise
I'd stop the clocks to mark the time
I first looked in your eyes.

My wishes dim the starlit sky
'till dark are all my hours,
in knowing I will never find
A finer love than ours.

I used to go to a grungy New Jersey *****-bar
that was the lowest dive I have ever
regularly patronized;
long closed now I reasonably suppose
by the health department;
stripper/hookers conspicuously
diseased as if proud of their track-marks
& STDs who offered
lap dances to rookie Russian thugs; whispering
sweet Russian nothings
into their cauliflower ears beneath strains
of Ol' Blue Eyes; they
called him that warbling New York New York