asleep in shades
of singing low this
porch lit drink of
what-happened whispers
arranged on the sill
like city flowers
under my bed
but each time I ask
the moon replies with
water creatures & stones
so I keep scrubbing
for gold knowing life
is worth the squeeze

after the wars
we drowned in
the thrum of
******* light
& broken beams

you held up a
word & I could
not guess to
whom you had
given your life

I only knew we
had drifted apart
& the monster I
am dangles limp
from your jaws

the meaning of dreams
watches us sleep as we
chase the finality of
apartments silent but for
the creak of our skin
saying the darkness
can never be whole
violated as it is by
the seed of light
that runs through
our bodies

so lower the knife,
let no good crisis
go to waste

how far is too far
is it beyond the missing
or the decency to mourn

how long is too long
when buried by shells
fired at the crossroads
before which doubt
celebrates its existence

it is never too far
& never too long
when nothing is left
but we who remain

small windows blink back
the faint breath of ice

a touch

a twinge

a fire in the garden
hurled by autumn
winds whipping bends
through mountain clouds
sparking too-bright
to think

that something
could be wrong

or missing

or more than
we deserve

the scale
weighs heavy
with havoc
& hazard

you twinkle
& laugh

no price
too great
for one
more moment

you were outside
me & said never
doubt pain saved
the world from
memories spinning
like rosettes

I replied: triumphs
multiply when
mouth-sounds tour
the stars to return
what was lost

we lifted a cold
one to silence

content it will
never hear the
end of us

words make beauty,
they also make cages

desire has no end,
except where poems
stop & songs begin

the goal can’t be reached,
only savored

cobras spit,
watch out for that

it will be over
too soon

& most important:

the sky is a trick
of distance, your
lover is not

emperor maples signpost ghost-roads
down which eyes flow cold as lights
glassing an inner field of kindness
& storms flavored by leaves sculpted
in the silent snow of last good-byes
& the perfect peace of knowing even
this cannot come between us