When flowers turn their faces
From the sun,
Only then
Could I look away
From whatever you are,
To disregard
The blind child's arrow,
The taste
Of your shoulders,
Movement
Of your fingers,
Almost magic.

All words eventually miss
Their mark, so what
I say--no matter
How well said--remains
An insufficient testament
To your embrace.

He's found her in the gallery,
This spotty neighborhood
Where cash is king
And what's available today
Might not be back tomorrow
And he's the one who's out of place--
Suspicious eyes on concrete steps--
In his short-sleeved shirt.
He hands her fifteen folded twenties,
Says call your mom, she misses you.
She nods and slips the bills inside her bra,
Says something not quite loud enough.
He takes a step, looks back and says,
Your brother scored two goals last night.

your unexpected saving grace
amazes me when i get lost
or find myself in some dark place
despairing at the hellish cost
of temporary residence
clocksprung outside what can't be told
through common words of reverence
by penitents within the fold
i slake my thirst in your embrace
long tested by my ignorance
contrast mere heaven with your face
that weathers pain and happenstance
extends the evening star's delight
that i may yet say one thing right

were we on devil's holiday
3 lovers in the strength of may
ignoring any other world
than that wherein our legs lay curled
and was it sweet for that bright morn
to be the dazzling unicorn
who clattered off less innocent
of how the tempter's time is spent

dilapidated old motel
wide potholes in the asphalt lot
where we stood talking in the rain
so many years ago it seems
like someone else's history
no matter what we said
the opportunity
not lost on you to stand
beside me closer than
your friend my date that night
as your companion talked
in flashing lights about
the evening's accident

some potion seller's dream
encouraged our acceptance
bitter fruit
brittle words
stored in old vessels concealed in ignorance with lines so well
rehearsed that freedom is
a foreign question
they ring almost as true