Wellesley

The sound of silence.
Tires on a road.
Weight of other consciousness,
Intruding on your own.

Answers resting in the womb of winter.
Even as we try to bring them out with science.
Quicksilver running from eyes.
Endless empty screams of pain.

Peace

There are no swords here,
No swordsmen.
Only a man and a woman.

Needles

All the children are dying,
Passing into the mist.
All the old men are walking.
Passing the graves.
All the crows are circling.
Passing empty airliners.
All the records are playing.
Passing dulled needles.

Snapshot

I like mysteries.
I do not fear the dark.
I do not cower from pain.
No, I run from the light.
That exposing brightness.
Shining from pores and eyes and photo lenses.
I shrink and melt in the sun.
Praying for twilight.
So I can slink away.
Even though, like a fly, I am drawn back, against my will.
Shivering and sweating.
Afraid.
Mind empty.
Stuttering away.

Contact

All the sparks falling from existence.
Immense fractal tracts of time.
Distilled and sprayed at random.

Love V

When the line rings in the dark
Fling glasses off the table
I think it's your other boyfriend

Love IV

Toothbrush in my glass
Hair in the drain
Vodka bottles empty.

Love III

Licking sweat
A deer in rut

Love II

Will you wear that ring forever?
Stack it atop all the others.

Love I

I'd cut myself to shreds.
If you would hand me the knife.

The Exorcised Ghost of 'Howl'

Liquor running as blood with diamond platelets.
All hail to the morphine.
Legalized and war tested.
Works every time!
Time
That sonuvabitch!
Marching in heavy boots.
Leaving muddy tracks all over my life.

Chickadees

Children
Hungry bellies like boulders
Scrabbling peanuts in the dust
Licking lambs' blood from each others lips
Coupling in burned out shells of cars and storefronts
Clutching at coins and scrap metal
Walking with guns as tall
Ripped to shreds by shrapnel
Hiding behind momma's knee
Scratching at fleas
Aflame, inspired by the promise of bread.

Fire

I breathe fire and smoke.
Watch my skin flake away,
And the bones bleach white.
Hear the screams turn to cinder in my mouth.

Saucier

The copper tang licks at my pallet.
As the wine steams in the heat.
Islands of garlic and onion, surrounded by raging tides.
Dredging the ocean floor for bits of carbon.

Time

We are all orphaned by time.
The crisscrossed lines and endless gears.
Grinding away, inexorable.

With memory, we reach through the veil.
Clawing, scrabbling, Nosferatu fingers.
Stretching outward, bleeding.

New York

feet eating pavement
chewing gum pointilisme
ringtone mixtape, every crosswalk
yellow blood cells running arterial bleed
curry smoke belly dance
poultry wind chimes
cardboard gospels, shouted
kung fu on the playground
cowboy boots, spandex, bug-eyed sunglasses
basketball rhythm section