"photophobia" poems
perfect girl
in reverse she moves like the minute-hand of the watch wound
up down through
pilot all in leather crash into the steel
ocean and eat the seaweed until
emerge looking like hubcap trash
fifty tons of water weight you move home
covered in barnacles and
flotsam out of the driftwood
you built your house
where the dogs come to eat dirt &
grasshoppers
beneath the foundations lie the
carcasses of chewedupspitout cockroaches
you killed when you were young enough to think that
racing greyhounds meant
chasing them across state borders
you and the peeling paint reading the tea leaves they say time to rip the
oil pastel wrappers off so you can't tell which color is
which and then draw draw everywhere until
you cover the world in color that can't be washed out up
off things are no longer crayola clear
in the sun you turn on natural lights to **** the
wolftooth glare of photophobia
sun sneezing out into the porch do you dare
doubleyou dee forty these hinges someday man, do you really
want this house to have the last word?
so that when you cover the fire pit (no stone unturned)
and roll over to the
cold side of the bed you realize
that the pipes are only leaking in your head
that the dresser did not collapse
that the broken glass & the ants on the floor are not the cause of the
blood on your heels
cracked like brazil nut shells all along the
corridor
(perfect girl runs
skirt flies up in the back hair whips neck turns
hips like a rose in the honeyed dew
melancholy untuned viola strings improve the flavor like
hints of saffron in her eyes--
she is taller than you remember)
the bats
(moths between teeth)
watch you curiously
as though you were standing
right-side up
cacophony caused by
one too few chairs at the
dining table.
Sep 27, 2012
Sep 27, 2012 at 1:36 PM UTC
in the afternoon we chew our pills,
sweating the backs of knees, armpits,
blessed the skittering of grass on down-brushed
shins.
pulsing behind our eyes, weeping the veins,
shuddering the voltaic nerves. god,
the excedrin.
Oct 2, 2024
Oct 2, 2024 at 11:02 AM UTC
See infinity
stop looking; freeze tag, slumber
parties, best friends and
looking for the stars.
Finding “now” in headstands and
long-distance running
(and) different ways of
saying things: five, seven, five,
beating, drum, beating.
Don’t worry, you can
(still) be a wordsmith and (still) choose
Your own adventure.
Photophobia,
_________, ________ ____________
___________ ____________
ideas (stealing
real estate) and no space left
for this thought (to develop)
(stay sharp)
Don’t dull the senses;
the light won’t help you see
if your eyes are closed.
Jul 3, 2019
Jul 3, 2019 at 11:52 AM UTC
watching as the sun arises,
she awaits for darkness to reoccur.
the light scares her.
all she knows is to run and hide.
a.b.
Jul 31, 2023
Jul 31, 2023 at 6:52 PM UTC