Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself.
Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;
a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.
Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?
Listening to the night rain on my roof,
I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.

SSGT Sky
do you remember
sitting so close together
letting our skin brush the others
but never allowing our eyes to meet?

and I was just 14
but I knew exactly who you were to me
and you were almost 18
almost a marine

The callow acts of our youth
can cut deep
my heart always ruled the roost
governed by altruistic spontaneity
and with every blind leap
you were there, looking after me

SSGT Sky
do you remember the week I turned 18
you returned from overseas
remember the bed we made on the beach
your hands shook as they traveled the length of me

and we were just kids
though your innocence was stripped
I knew exactly who I was to you,
and I tried to replenish all of it

But the callow acts of youth
they cut deep

SSGT Sky
do you remember forgetting that we belonged together?
and how I thought I was jaded by those who came after?
until the night before you left
you showed me the pillow that you'd kept
and with my hair tie on your wrist
you kissed me like you'd never loved another

I was a lost 23
until I remembered exactly who you were to me
you were almost 27
a special ops marine

the callow acts of our youth
remedied
my heart always ruled the roost
governed by altruistic spontaneity
and with every blind leap
you were there looking after me

SSGT Sky
our fallen marine
did you still wear my hair tie on your wrist
when you remembered your last memory?
and of your last thoughts
did you take comfort in any of me?

The callow acts of our youth
can cut deep
my heart always ruled the roost
governed by altruistic spontaneity
and with every blind leap
you will remain
looking after me.

I want to be delicate
Like sewing needles
On stilts
Held together
By baby pink yarn
I want my clothes
To graze my bones
Like a new couple holding hands
At the end of freshman year
I want my shoes to look big
On my bamboo ankles
Hollow like a flute
Pretty and silver
Clinking and plinking along
My footsteps will leave glitter in their wake

Praise the spells and bless the charms,
I found April in my arms.
April golden, April cloudy,
Gracious, cruel, tender, rowdy;
April soft in flowered languor,
April cold with sudden anger,
Ever changing, ever true --
I love April, I love you.

With wings like barn doors, perched upon the tower and scathing
The king fell, the Earth moved and let him drift slowly to death
Bukowski on the bedpost sang rosy melodies through tin can headphones
and the daffodils of a thousand fields wilted at the news of her death
Needles fall from the *****'s arms, a rain drop escapes

Coca-Cola bottles strewn on a green carpet, smooth under foot
and the festival casualties drift aimlessly to their scorching cars
Pills fall from pockets as a forlorn criminal collects coins
The clouds disperse from the estate, reggae disrupts cats making love
Bass that resonates, crumbling cars and the warring between neighbours

Lay with her as the coffin descends, gun crime statistics
Spinoza makes accusations from beyond, ethical misappropriation
Stop talking, for your voice could make an angel weep
but the children still scream, running, frenzied on the lava streets
Cracking bull whips at the backs of a slave, ******* passion, weeping
and the sun sets in the East, proverbial ******* to the populace

Franzen now teaches me how to live such a lonesome life
While the night holds me like a mother once would
Until I pass,
and the arms of Susanna Blamire beckon
Hold me close
I'm scared

i remember that night on your front steps
smoking cigarettes and talking with your mother
while
i cradled your heart and
you cried on my chest

i remember middle school english class
and your first thong,
pink and white and blue

i remember we made that bourbon summer
last until december

i remember bottle rockets and champagne
the morning your brother died

i remember carrying you home
in the rain
the day after you escaped from the hospital
and you cried then, too.

i remember lying on the cold ***** tile
of your mother's kitchen
whispering Neruda in your ear
shivering & sweating with you
that night we took ecstasy

i remember the first night
you let me slip an honest prayer between your lips