Is a poem not just a song
with rhyming verse
that’s not yet sung?

With repeated chorus
not yet stuck
inside one’s head,
amongst the muck?

Is a poem not just a song?
A daisy chain of verse
not yet strum

around a fire
among some friends
deep in the woods
on away weekends.

Is a poem not just a song
not yet proclaimed
by a choir’s tongue?

But uttered silently
in a bed-lamp’s light
at early hours
of the night.

Is a poem not just a song
that peacefully rests
in black ink upon

a white page
inside a book,
upon a library shelf
until it’s took?

Is a poem not just a song
quietly set to lips
that read along

on a train,
on the way back home
from visiting gran
for tea and a scone?

Is a poem not just a song
unset to keys
and not yet begun?

Not yet major,
and not yet minor.
Just metered in beats
and little other.

Is a poem not just a song?
I suppose it could be
but not this one.

With my five iron
I drive fallen, raw figs
Across the yard

And before me lay
The glory of the world.
Hard as we might try,
We could not defeat its beauty.

There’s no post in the box
At the top of the drive.
The sun won’t write us
‘fore the clouds arrive.

Leaves and plastic
Get caught in the rail.
We pull them out
So the gate won’t fail.

But who walks by
Or on bikes roam
Beyond the corner
From where we call home?

We can only hide far away
Behind the bougainvillea’s green,
In our bricks and glass,
In the spaces between.

And still no letter
And yet far better.

At first it made me happy
But now it makes me feel ashamed
My Christmas tree in February

Wanna rescue earthworms
All about on the drive?
Throw ‘em back on the grass
To try keep them alive

The rain has come down hard
And flooded their worm home
Beneath where they all live
We can’t leave them alone

Before the hot sun welds
Them all to the cement
And long before their last
Squirm and wriggle are spent

Hurry and grab a twig
We’ll save ‘em, you and I
We won’t get them all
But be sure we will try

Don’t throw me in the meat locker
It’s dark and cold in there
Don’t cover me up in plastic
For I will have no air

Don’t cut me into pieces
For I’m not yours to sell
Don’t send me in and shut the door
It’s dark and cold as hell

The dew before
The light catches it
Before then

I love my jimjam
Jabama jabamers  
You calls ‘em PJs
Some call ‘em pajamas

My jimjams are old
And all busted up
There’s a hole in the sleeve
Where my elbow snuck

But they still fit well
Real snug as can be
Though threads from my cuffs
Do dip in my tea

But the buttons still hold
And the pocket still carries
They keeps me warm at night
When the winter tarries

So I pop on my jimjams
‘For I hop into bed
And I curl up real tight
Once my prayers are said

I love my jimjam
Jabama jabamers
You calls ‘em PJs
Some call ‘em pajamas

A rumble calls
A false cry for rain
Wither the plants
In a dry spring’s pain

The dark is for the monsters
The dark is their only mask
Fear them as you should
But forget not those who bask

The brittle grass beneath his feet
The cooling air won’t fail the beat
Was feeling sick but can’t throw up
Too tired to sleep but can’t get up

This pill to swallow, a bitter beast
And time spent here, still meant the least
Static sparks in electric air
First given was warning fair

Wonder out and he will tell you jokes
Between *****, Red Bulls an’ Cokes
Now an echo cries and begs to stay
Tied to a wish for a happy birthday

I am bleeding broken teeth
Out on the driveway
My BMX buckled beside me
And the whole world in front of me

I am typing up scripts
To sell consumer goods
My empty lunch tin beside me
And a deadline in front of me

I am watching the curtain breath
Through the balcony door
My dog sits beside me
And the weekend in front of me

I am memory pushed through a straw
Into the shape of a man
My dreams beside me
As with the whole world around me

Paintings of dogs
On the wall
In the X-ray room
At the hospital
Where I go
Every week

All she wanted was to get it right
All she wanted was for them to know
All she wanted was another fight
All she wanted was to make it so

All she wanted was one more dare
All she wanted was the warm sunlight
All she wanted was not to care
All she wanted was to have the right

All she wanted was a TV game
All she wanted was another go
All she wanted was to feel the same
All she wanted was a place she’d know

All she wanted were the words to say
All she wanted was on that day

I'm waiting for my request to come on.
I said it was for you, but it's my favorite song.

Black light that shines
So bright and warm
The fragile hours
Before the storm

They'll tear you apart
And still you won't care.
You'll do as you're told
In that thing you wear.

You won't ever see
Them when they do.
It's too much to look
And know that it's you.

So just close your eyes
This won't hurt a bit.
Before you count ten
They'll be through with it.

I burn brighter
Just like you
As we burn away

Does the breeze raise your skin?
Does the sun catch your hair?
Do you feel the soft grass,
By the stream when you're there?