many months can pass in the chasm of creativity,
          each block spanning a quarter mile
on the desolate street which the writers call home;

and yet one lyric of a single song can cease the silence,
           breaking like a dollar bill into the
clamor of loose change in a poor peasant's pocket.

I finally got around to watching that Robin Williams flick,
           warranted by solemn respect for the dead,
his society of poetry, ripping out the pages of rules
.


WE are the dead; short days ago we lived,
and now we are food for worms,.

Today I caught a glimpse,
A reflection of a ghost
Beyond the wall of smoke.

I see many familiar spirits
And we exchange pleasantries,
Slaps on the back, hellos,

And, (just as important!) goodbyes,
Leaving one another to voyage,
Apparitions of the loved dead

Trapped between two distant worlds-
Ours of business, busyness, beaches,
The other of undisturbed rest.

The ghost I glimpsed today
Was caught in the reflection
Behind a wall of smoke

The street we had walked
A complete sun circuit ago
When we shared the earth,

Shared the wind and rain,
The stars moon and sky,
High above the April clouds.

But our journey was incomplete.
I sought life beyond atmosphere,
She wished for feet planted

Back on solid ground below,
The place love can bloom
Without freezing in the clouds

And turning to acid rain.
And so it was goodbye.
Eighty words could say less

Than the five we shared
When our glances strayed apart,
Beyond the veil of smoke.

I remember you, lovely ghost,
That's what I told her,
Allowing passage to the hibernation.

Before beginning something new,
One must know The Steps-

The first Step is admitting-
that this mess is not beautiful
beauty is an opposite (not an element)

that we cannot sit here for eternity
that it's all just a freckle on a giant plan

The second Step is forgetting-
everything that was said, heard, read
all the things that stayed a maybe

the revolutions that never got bought
the ones who shone brighter than the sun.

The third Step is moving on;
seeing what lies in the Far East
and giving away the last CD's

saying goodbye to ecstasies
pulling together, and turning around.

It
will be fun
they said, try
it,

jump, the old
train bridge,
signs say
NO
but they do
it
anyway
crashing through
the surface
splash

it'
s easy, they said,
close your eyes,
jump,
only twelve
feet to immortality,
they never ask
if you can swim,
they just
want you
to try
it,
want you to
jump

I used your old toothbrush
To ignite memories
Of how you taste

I used to have a problem with redundancy.

Now I have a problem with redundancy.

I used to have a problem where I couldn't finish things.

Now I

.                               -she pleas
Don't look at my knees
Praying that somebody sees

                               -she cries
Don't look at my thighs
I had lows where you had highs

                                -she goes
Don't look at my nose
I'll cut it off, feed it to crows

                               -she moans
Don't look at my bones
Hung 'em up beside the phone

"Please, please" she pleas