In the garden of
worthless hellos
the yellowed smiles
all show their
appreciation to each other
and to the passing sky
unaware
that they move
and the sky
hasn't gone
anywhere

Woke up on
the wrong side
of the world again
today
and thought about
how we never meant
all those things
we never said
all along these secret streets
going nowhere
never returning
illuminated only by
forgotten bulbs
all failing in
incandescence.

I saw a cat today
a kitten, actually
orange and white
with its guts spilled out
on the street
and as I drove by it kept
trying to get up
and I cried and cried
because it was suffering and
I could not help

I saw it again later
one with the road
now unrecognizable
in death
and I felt a degree of relief
because it was done
and there was no more kitten
trying to drag
its loosed insides
across the cold pavement
near 28th and University
and in that moment
I understood
why some people opt for
the permanent solution
instead of suffering
with their insides out
on the street
as everyone else passes by
unaware

she walks
unbridled
through the
gardens of sunset
and plants all
turn to see just
what radiance has
come into the
garden of Eden

what Eve shall remain
as we grow old together
and our suns
begin their descents
into tomorrow?

Pitch dark rumbling
as the plane crawled
into the night sky
away from you once again

and out the window I saw
blinking
another plane perhaps
taking other lives along
their given paths

and I looked again
and saw only the stars
against the blackened infinity
and in those stars
I saw only you

It's easier to talk
in obscurity and metaphor
than it is to be honest
with ourselves
because it sounds more
pleasant to be tossed around
at sea
than to be sitting quietly
at the bottom of
a well in a rainstorm

Maybe original sin
is just a term
we gave to
justify
our inability
to believe
in anything
so pure
as love