The diameter of the quest pointed indirectly into the fog.
The fog that hid the ****** damsel, captive, far from home
With my trusty blade and my rusty horse,
my  whole mission, saving the princess.
My sword slammed into dragon, far and sqware.
I packaged the carcass, put it on the curb, and grinned.

Looking in all the wrong places
In Boston, I shared a bed with a stranger,
In New Orleans, it was rope...
In Memphis, I sat with a stray cat,
I smoked-- the cat did nat...
Just trying to lose the loneliness blues.

2. It’s just around the corner
a warm night in spring
flowers fragrance the air
is this the one?

3. The 90-day half-life
From like rabbits to sustainable passion,
The “inluvy” hormones
are nearly as exhausted as we
Time to work on friendship,
 and commitment to our future.

4. On the shoals
"It wasn't what was said, it was what wasn't said"
negative space shaping the conversation--
dancing, flitting from safe to safer,
like stepping stones across an angry creek,
we just try to get by.

5. An assessment
Love isn’t static
No, it evolves,
waxing and waning
to an uncertain end.
It can fade,
or it can continue to grow
and become something 
truly wondrous.

6. Live and let live
Hanging the toilet paper roll,
evil sister-in-law peeve.
Yes, the toilet seat thing.
A sock warming a room corner.
Not ******* on screwtops 
The toothpaste top, classic.
Every flat surface a shelf,
every car trunk a closet

7. Requiem
Alone again
I miss my friend

grotesque, banal,
sorrow and suffering
meted out to all,
but unfairly spread.
the litany of evil,
endless and pointless.
it's the four horsemen,
joyfully at work.
oh god,
how can you permit this?
a wiser man* than i,
in the stead of god replies,
it's just part of the deal.

All of a sudden, 
No light, no sound, 
no sensations at all.
My mind was freed--
it soared, 
I could think of anything,
and I did.
No sensory distractions,
no outside prompts to guide my thought
                  ?
At first, I thought I was alone,
but I wasn't. 
I was one among hundreds, 
thousands or more.
To the left of me, the right
front, back,
above and below,
silent comrades, 
on a shelf,
each like me.
                  ?
How did I know this?
I don't know, 
but it was true...
as true as anything else.
I was just a brain in a jar,
with the sensory plug pulled.
I just hope the nutrient
continues to flow.

You will become rich
You will become poor
You will eat an apple
You will swallow the core

temperature pales compared to heat
it signals without sensation
but sweat is the real deal