beset by death we dine
with possibility and choice

When we enter
            into Love
   we enter into
                    Loss.

she's like a captain sailing in a wicked sea
always steadfast in his gallantry

equally impressed by what will be
and never minding his trembling teeth

This morning I
took a piece of gum
with my right hand and
removed the wrapping
with my left.
I threw the gum on the floor
and placed the paper in my mouth.

Death has sat patiently--
waiting for us to blossom
from ignorant youth.

His face,
once concealed,
now shows frightening detail.

This one time
In first grade
I brought a dead snake
into school
for show 'n tell.
When I brought it
out of my pocket
the teacher shrieked
and made me go to the dumpster
behind the school
to throw it away
with a janitor
named Allen.

Perched on a Flat
Above Mountains of Black Ash
The Stars Ripple...
As If The Moon
:
a Bobber—

The Sky
:
Water—

The Stars:
Jewels Sunk Beneath.

(And every evening
a celestial being
gets caught on the hook
'til morning)

Do you
remember
that crusty burn
that charred
the front-seat
of your 89' coupe
Ford Capri?

Do you remember
how you blamed it
on innocent Emily?
because
you caught her
smoking
when she was
sixteen?

Im sorry.
Because it was actually me

Jenny and I
stole it one night
and drove to the sea
while you and mom
were upstairs,
both sound asleep.  

Please,
Forgive me.
the moon!
the stars!
the breeze!
the sea!
all circling
my sweet Jenny!

When we shed light on something
we simultaneously cast a shadow.

Love is the resounding ring produced from two harmonious notes.

Molasses Air
of
the Morning Meadow
sits like
Cobwebs in Ghostly Chambers.

Pillars of Light
Slant
from the Mossy Banks
of Trickling Streams,
converging at a Point
Beyond the Trees

Winged Phantoms
Shriek & Squeak
and
Whisp the White Air

A Flash!
of Black
Now-- Nowhere.

A Fly Wrestles With a Window
while
Cars Roll Over Wet Roads

A Dove Sings It's Song,
on a Drooping Wire
that Sinks Toward the Sidewalk
Where Children's Chalk Creations
have just Washed Away

A Face Pressed with Pattern
from the Mattress It Lay,
has Eyes Fixed on Nothing
but The Summer Sun
steadily Creeping up The Wall.