they moved as they always have
with stumbling scraping steps
that gradually become less confused

my first memory was their eyes
pale, strangely large, filled with hunger, searching
and their hair floating wild in the night
echoing their desperate movements

now I see them emerging from the fogs of memory
their waving hands long fingered
with nails like claws
turning their heads from side to side seeking
stumbling down the darkened passages
tortured

when they found the moon
they scorned it
rejected the pale ghost of the sun
they wanted nothing less than the great furnaces of the skies
Aldebaran, Deneb, Altair, Rigel, Alpha-Centari
but they searched in tunnels far from the freedom of the night
leading to false paradigms and delusional discoveries
where they expected unrefuted clarity
they exposed schemes and lies
still they searched until their strength was almost done
until, at the penultimate door
in terror, they found themselves.

From the Illustrated Zombies 2010

Since the beginning he felt the emptiness

The prophet promised love would fill all the empty spaces

He'd be held in light, the answer to the unasked questions

Radiating like a torch

But love so often became the mundane

Buying milk, fixing the faucet,

Reviewing property values

Arguing about new tires.

Where was that path with every footstep

Limed in fire?

That melody that made every muscle

Strain with desire?

Still looking for Rumi somewhere on the road.

Solid in his darkness
Surrounded by stars
He is attempting to soar
He has little grace
Maybe the determination of wings
And his head fixed on his anticipated launch
But perhaps he has already fallen so many years before

Maybe he is old now
Failing to fly so many times
Feathers melted by the starry furnaces
Falling, Falling
Still his heart,
His glowing soul
Has not yet abandoned
Hope for the skies.

Later
He woke to the thick smell of burning oil
Blended with the sweet odor of blood
Covered with the sunburned sand

For a moment everything was okay
Except for the horrors lurking
Out of the corners of his eye

He thought he might be home again
But then the pain from the wound shattered him
Grinding his teeth
His vision went dark for an instant
Then was clear

His gaze moved slowly from the red glistening ruin of his legs
To the broken armored vehicle
A clenched fist burning
Stuck in the broken hatch

He wondered

How did this happen?
Was the mission accomplished?
Had this anguish achieved something?
Before the blackness mercifully removed
All questions.

Down from Aleppo to the sea we rode
Down from Aleppo to the sea
On swaying, snow white camels we rode
Down from Aleppo to the sea


We sailed on a thin jade ship with hope
On a green jade ship with hope
Drifting upon endless seas
In a thin jade ship with hope


To the empty seas for love, we cried
To the empty sea for love
We saw Her walking the curling waves
To the empty seas for love


Visions came through that foggy night
Fantastic, never again seen
Spider lights sliding between the masts
That foggy night never again seen

The cook saw floating jewels, he said
Purple crystals in the sea
Uncovering the inner truths of foam
Purple crystals in the sea


The mate felt an eternal wind
He felt an eternal wind
Breath from the unknown sea it was
Rustling eternal winds


The stars chanted sutras of icy warmth
The stars chanted sutras of ice
Sailing below a schizoid sea
Chanting warm sutras of ice


Before tomorrow we left the glad sea
Before tomorrow we left
Blazing vacuities of nightshade explode
Before the light gathered we left


Down to Aleppo from the sea we rode
Down to Aleppo from the sea
On swaying silk white camels we rode
Down to Aleppo from the sea

Tooling down University Boulevard
The late afternoon sun in the trees
Gray man is satisfied
His hedge fund is overflowing
(But, oh the sting of the lash
the pain ripping across his eyes)
He enters the Parkade

Gray man adjusts his tie
Entering the glass monument
He rises to the high place
He is offered the world, the fullness thereof
And is nearly dashed to pieces
Saved by a giant crane, then
Lowered to his late model upscale sedan

Gray man returns to his cave
He watches the images of drinks
And necessary medications
Flash on the gray walls
Argues with his mate about her
Tile inlay classes
Until only hissing silence surrounds

He dreams of the glass temples
And the super gray priests
Walking among the numbers

Far away in the mountains
The night horses run towards dawn
The dark spider weaves below
And all is still.

There is a cave
Opening to the west
Where the sky glows blue
Framed by walls of darkness

In the centre is a fire
We gather in a circle wide
Around the flames

All have a place
To spell out our tales
In the play of light and shadows

There is a flute and sometimes a drum
The chanting and singing have begun
From a great distance we hear the wind
Bird song and trees at play

Old and young sing the holy songs
The tales of the seasons changing
The stories of the Garden
The forbidden loves
And the fires burning in the heart
The towers falling in the Great Winter
Of the sacrifice
The golden treasure lost
The emptiness of the frozen desert
And the return of spring

There is a cavern
Opening to the west
Where the sky glows blue
Surrounded by darkness