Between your expectations

And mine

I become

The man you see

From traits of those

Who touch my life

And arrange the assembly

Of what I become

I dreamt that a filthy mouse
Somehow climbed into my mouth
As I tried to pry it out by its tail
And somehow in this dream
I ended up chewing this filthy thing
That got stuck on my teeth like toffee
How disgusting
How disgusting

So I sat down to write by a window
That looked over this beautiful sunset
And every time I wrote a word
A crack in the glass would appear
I grew so frustrated that I thought
**** it I'll write anyway
My mistake
The window broke
And I got ****** into this deep dark hole
Of nothingness
of nothing
With the taste of the rotting mouse in my mouth
With the words flowing out all around
The things I couldn't say
The things I couldn't write

Paper Lanterns

Your twin roots inflate and detach
as they form themselves, Arms
of golden battered skin, your bamboo hollows
Sway as the sun-split winds blow through you.

When you breathe, your heart is light too
and small, as if swallowed and held
between fluorescent sheets,
rocking on the cradle of the wind.

Up, up in the wandering, burning blue
Slipping away the earthen bonds, you rise.
And, with silent lifting thoughts, you withdraw
into the sanctity of space.

Turning up and down in the wind-every single crane I folded
On the seventeenth day of the fifth month
I took you to go see the gardens
To see the orchids bloom
White Purple and blue
Hanging leaves
Trees like statues on a night without wind
The ghost festival
It was dark in the perfumed gardens
Velvet purple sky
We sat and listened to the far off music
The sound of drums
Traveling along the gurgling river
Sitting down on the edge of a rock
You were laughing and smoking one of my cigarettes
Those wisps of smoke curling around
And the flick flick of your ash on a rock
You thought you were so cool sitting there like Joplin, all strung out and white looking like Courtney love
Your knee high socks
Are smeared in mud and pollen
Just then the music all stopped at the festival down the river
Except for some lone flute playing a haunting other-worldy melody
As we sat looking on the calm purple waters
The children and old women took small paper boats with candles inside
The mothers and the fathers
The sisters and cousins Uncles and brothers
All knee deep in the darkened waters
Pushing those small glowing ships down the river
Leading all those lost souls and spirits
The ghosts of this year's dead flowing out to sea

Like a fleet of stars they slowly drifted
Water reflecting the hundreds of candles
That crescent moon looked so right above the spirits
I watched them clear the bend
- Without taking a breath-
Until you laughed and flicked your cigarette **** into the still water
Ripples of moonlight
Talking about yourself in the dark
Somewhere down the river the music started again

this night of the yellow moon
sings a slow and somber tune
the story of my ancestor's soul
is shared around the watering hole
naked whispers in lover's ears
serve to calm my sorrow's tears
a laugh echos from across the room
and smiles burst like flowers bloom
a pretty girl with an angel face
passes out dreams with a sour taste
we all know her by a different name
yet she answers us all the very same
hey would you like another pretty word
to compliment that come on line you heard
and a hey, hi, **, how are you?
is as common as a pair of tattered shoes
tap tap tap on the red stained floor
and a drunk brother asks for a little more
another drink to satisfy my tongue
another song noone knows who sung
yet every time we all know the words
in unison we sing like cattle in herds
and the church bells ring another time
to call us in to confess our crime
but we'll frequent again tomorrow night
for a chance to look through beauty's sight
another pleasant dream on this plain
saves you another night from this pain

Should I still stretch

For new proverbs

And hope

They never age

While old truths fade

Each epoch's dawn

As worms digest

Each page